Foundations
by gentlereader4u
Summary: After breaking up Kurt and Blaine went their separate ways.Blaine's now a successful LA musician while Kurt is a high school counselor. The creation of the Pavarotti Music Foundation was their dream... and now its a reality. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1 The Boys

**KURT**

**2****nd**** Annual Valentine's Night of Song Gala**

**Music by**

**Pavarotti Music Foundation**

**DaltonAcademy Warblers**

**and**

**Special guest appearance by Grammy award recipient, **

**Founder & CEO of Pavarotti Music Foundation**

**Blaine Anderson**

**Tickets $2500 with all proceeds to the Pavarotti Music Foundation**

**Saturday February 14, 2018**

**Rainbow Room 6:30 PM**

**Black tie**

**RSVP**

_"Hmphh. So, there it is…in black and white. I, Kurt Hummel, am attending a Gala, hosted by none other than my former boyfriend and now extremely successful musician, Blaine Anderson, for the very Foundation that we dreamed up together. In who's universe does this shit really happen?" _he pondered, turning the ticket over and over in his hand – like it might be a magic 8 ball and give him an answer. "_I must have done some funky shit in another lifetime for this to be my karma payback"_ nodding his head to the ticket. Kurt was in his NYC neighborhood coffee shop waiting for Rachel to meet him. She was late. She was late and he was left with too much time to dwell on his circumstance, and quite frankly was starting to wig out at the whole turn of events.

It started earlier that day when he was called in to the principal's office of the school where he worked.

"Kurt! Thanks for coming in – please take a seat" the principal indicated to the spare chair with a sweep of his hand as he closed the door to his office.

"Sure, Mr Carmichael. What can I do for you" Kurt sat cross legged in the chair with his hands neatly folded in his lap looking quizzically at the middle-aged administrator.

"Kurt – I have a favor to ask you"

"Okayyyy?…" Kurt drawing the word out.

"I have a complimentary ticket to attend the Pavarotti Music Foundation Gala that's being held this Saturday night. I thought I'd be going, but as it turns out, I can't and so I thought you'd be the perfect substitute since its really up your alley anyways with the counseling department and all" he stated as he fumbled through the papers on his desk looking for the ticket. "I know its late notice but I'm really hoping you are free and would like to go in my place."

Kurt sat still in his chair trying to take all the information in. The color drained from his face as he realized what was being asked of him.

"Excuse me – you want me to attend the fundraiser for the Pavarotti Music Foundation? The Foundation that Blaine Anderson started up and runs?" Kurt asked calmly, trying to control the quivering in his voice.

"Yes! Please Kurt?" Carmichael repeated, looking back up at Kurt with a desperate look on his face. "As you know, because you are attending, we are hosting the information meeting that same day with some of the representatives of the Foundation" he pointed out "and so, of course, we need also to be in attendance at the actual fundraiser. It's quite the event Kurt - it's a gala! It will be themed for Valentine's Day. You should be thrilled at the opportunity. You'll be hob-knobbing with celebrities and maybe you'll even get the chance to meet Blaine Anderson himself!" he carried on still looking for the ticket. 'Aha!" he exclaimed as he pulled the lone ticket out of his desk drawer. "It's a plus 1 so you can take someone along with you". "I've already RSVP'd as myself, so you'll just need to be Douglas Carmichael for the evening" he joked holding the ticket out to him.

Kurt leaned over and plucked the ticket from his hand, and put it in the breast pocket of his jacket. Not believing what he was about to agree to, he took a deep breath and confirmed "Sure Mr. Carmichael. I'm happy to take your place" and added "and I KNOW my roommate, Rachel, will be thrilled with the opportunity to "network" he airquoted with a slight grin as he got up to leave. _"After all Rachel is nothing if not all about opportunities"_ he thought as he left the office and walked down the hall to his own office where he sat and stewed for the rest of the day.

And, now, here he was. Ticket in hand, waiting to share the news with said Miss Opportunity. Where the hell is she?

His thoughts were broken when a hand came from behind and grabbed his shoulder, jarring him.

"Kurt – I'm sorry I'm late. Were you waiting long? Oh my god, I need some caffeine pronto!" Rachel crashed down in the chair across from him dropping her purse on the table with a thud looking at him like her question was not rhetoric.

"No… yeah… well, whatever.. I've been here a while" he muttered, "but its ok. Been waiting to fill you in on some big news though…" he quipped with a grin – waving the ticket he had in his hand in an effort to taunt his best friend. It worked.

"Oh… really…" Rachel draws out…. "And what exactly is this big news and what the hell are you waving around at me?" maneuvering over the table in an attempt to stop his hand and grab the ticket.

"Well, it would seem that a certain someone…. Blaine Anderson…." he added with one hand to the side of his mouth, " is going to be playing at his Gala on Saturday night and LOOK," now speaking rapidly in a fever pitched high voice "we've got the golden ticket" waving it around madly like a person possessed.

Rachel was finally successful in grabbing it out of Kurt's hand and stood reading it for herself. A couple of times over apparently to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. Wide-eyed, she opened and closed her mouth twice in an attempt to say something. He had no idea that was all it took to shut her up for a few minutes. Life altering invitations – who knew? He had found the recipe for silence. "_Must keep that intel close for future use" _he noted to himself.

Finally finding her voice "Blaine… BLAINE ANDERSON is going to be here in New York performing for his Foundation?" crashing back in her chair.

Arms crossed, with ticket still in her hand, she stared out the window for a minute. Suddenly she looked back up at Kurt, still wide-eyed and nodding, "Wow – he really made it didn't he? I don't think it really hit me until now Kurt." She reached out and laid her hand over his said more softly "he did it – he's a star." Looking out the window again she added. "I guess neither of us should be surprised – he was always so talented. It's just…. you know?" Again she looked back at Kurt, her head turned to the side, looking for reinforcement..

Again… rhetoric? He didn't know, so he answered, annoyed that his voice was a little higher than normal.

"Well of course he made it"…he said matter of fact with an indignant shrug. "He was born to be a "popstar" he noted with air quotes. "That was always his mojo wasn't it? Anyone that knew him could see that." Kurt looked down at his hands to avoid further eye contact with his best friend and noticed that he had been making circles around his palm with his fingers. It reminded him of how Blaine used to make circles in his palm with his thumbs when they held hands and he quickly pulled his hands down to his lap. "Honestly Rachel" he admitted with a softer tone, "even with all the shit that went down between us, and believe me, it was a truckload" he emphasized with a frown, "I've always known 100% that this would be Blaine's destiny and one that he deserves. He's so fucking talented. There was no way this wasn't going to happen. It was just a matter of time" Kurt confided.

"So, are you going to go?" Rachel asked him after a few moments of silence.

"Well, yeah… So this is the story" Kurt explained "My principal can't make it and so he asked, no, informed me that I am going in his place" He followed that with "And no, he has NO idea of my history with Blaine – this is pure fucking fluke." And then followed that with 'And you, Rachel Berry are coming with me as my plus one." pointing at her before folding his arms over his chest.

"Fluke or Fate?" she challenged him, smiling with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Rachel… " Kurt warned with a slight growl to his voice

"What? Kurt – you have to admit. This is pretty freaky. I mean – what are the chances?" holding out her arms out in an exaggerated manner. "You have to go and see him and talk to him. It's been years" she said leaning forward so that her head was right over the table eying him down like it was the biggest secret in the world and no-one else could hear. "Don't you think its time to maybe sort this all out once and for all? I mean, maybe time does heal all wounds" she shrugged. "Wouldn't you like to at least find out and maybe even congratulate him? He MADE IT Kurt!" she exclaimed, leaning back up and throwing her hands up for dramatic effect. "He deserves that from us – from you… don't you think?" She left it at that, leaning back into her chair, knowing that her friend had to really think this through before committing to any answer. "And I get to go too" she added in her singsong voice with little hand claps.

"Come on" she said pulling his hand – "I know you want to buy me an almond milk latte – and there's an amazing white chocolate-raspberry scone that has our name on it" she declared as she got up to go place their order with the barista.

Kurt sat still twirling the ticket between his fingers – deep in thought. Would he have an opportunity to speak to Blaine at the Gala? Would Blaine even want to see him? Would he even care after all these years? From Kurt's viewpoint, it certainly appeared that Blaine had moved on quite nicely, enjoying a multitude of companions, if you could believe all the stories that were written about him. And, well, let's face it – pictures don't lie, and there were plenty of those to go around too. Personally he wouldn't know what the truth was behind the façade of Blaine's publicity because they have never spoken another word to each other after "that day". The day where the life he knew ended and the life he has now began.

"KURT"… - the yell jolted him out of his thoughts and back to reality. "coffee…. now..!"

**BLAINE**

After Kurt and Blaine broke up, Blaine abandoned his plans of going to New York. They were really Kurt's plans from the get-go, and while he would have happily followed Kurt anywhere, once the relationship was over he decided to go to the other side of the country and began college at UCLA in Los Angeles, majoring in business. He had never given up on the idea of a music career however and through hard work, talent and a bit of luck, he made the right connections. He played when and where he could, uploaded performances onto YouTube, and eventually wrote and recorded a couple of singles that went straight to the top of the Billboard charts. From there he really never looked back. He dropped out of college a few credits shy of his degree. He released a full LP that year and won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2017. His hit single, "I'll Never Say Goodbye" went platinum the same year.

Through all this, Blaine never felt the need to hide his sexuality, as other entertainers had. It had taken him so long to be comfortable with whom he was, he just didn't see the sense in closeting himself. It was a calculated risk, but he knew if he didn't come clean right from the start, it would be a slippery slope. The fact that he was a gorgeous open gay man seemed to make the fangirls ship him even more, if that was possible. It certainly didn't detract him from fame; quite the opposite. He attracted all genders – it was always something he managed to do. Never were truer words spoken that day when Kurt described him as the alpha gay.

The industry, however, jaded him, and he slowly fell into the stereotypical pattern of drinking and partying too much. And he acquired quite the reputation along the way. Pictures and stories ran constantly in the national rags, showing him with a new boy toy at every event. The men were always college age and impeccably dressed. He had a type.

The truth of the matter was that Blaine was lonely. Success did not guarantee happiness. And the more success he experienced professionally, the lonelier he became. There was an invisible box around him that others couldn't see, but from which he couldn't escape. And so he lived in that box as best he could. He created the Pavarotti Music Foundation as an homage to love – from a vision that Kurt and him had created together, naming it after their beloved warbler from Dalton Academy. The Foundation was set up to offer opportunities for children to participate in various music programs. It gave out grants and scholarships for under-privileged children and under-funded public schools, and provided music therapy to children that were going through rough times. It also housed safe havens for LGBT kids to explore their musicality throughout the country. It started out as a grass roots effort but soon attracted the endorsement of other celebrities and musicians and ended up being one of the most successful fine arts foundations in America.

The Valentine's Night of Song Gala was something the Foundation started up last year, and was so successful that they decided to make it an annual event, hosting it in a different city each year. The inaugural had been held in Los Angeles and raised $200,000 to the cause. This year, in New York City, they hoped to match or beat that number.

Blaine jetted in to NYC early on the Friday with David, his manager, and had received a couple of party invitations ahead of time that his personal assistant had replied affirmative to; parties where he proceeded to have too many shots of vodka and lots of cute boys to make out with; the evening ending in a haze of alcohol and sex, with the morning after coming in far too quickly.

Blaine rolled over on to his stomach pulling a pillow over his head to block out the sunlight that was filtering through the windows. Smacking his lips together his first thought was that his mouth felt like sandpaper. Then the throbbing in his head took the spotlight. There was a party, he remembered. A pretty boy. Flashes of bodies wrapped together, tongues fighting for dominance, and teeth gnashing together strobes through his brain causing more of a ruckus in his head than he thought humanly possible.

The slight groan beside him is what brought him fully awake, realizing that he was not alone.

_"Fuck" _

_"Why did they always stay the night?"_ he asked himself. He was really going to have to get better at NOT falling asleep as soon as he came so he could make sure they left.

He pulled the pillow up a bit to peak out and came eye to eye with a sea of blue.

_ "Fuck"_

_"Why did they always have blue eyes?_ Blue eyes – chestnut brown hair and what looked to be a lean build if bare shoulders and arms were any bearing to the rest of what lay under the covers.

"Good morning" Pretty Boy greeted him with a smile.

_ "Fuck, what was his name? Daniel? Dylan? Something with a D… OK Anderson – time to charm him out of your room…"_

"Morning" Blaine answered with a half smile. He tossed the pillow aside and rolled on to his back to stretch out, flexing his muscles – testing for soreness. None. "_Good_ "he thought "_I topped_." It always freaked him out when he couldn't remember having sex and would panic at the thought of bottoming without recollection. He definitely did not bottom with hookups. He had only bottomed with one person. It was something that he consciously decided he would not do unless he was in a committed relationship. And since that had never happened since Ohio, he had never bottomed again.

And yet, without memory confirming the action, he was always afraid that there would be one day he would get careless and be convinced to do otherwise.

_"Where the fuck are the condoms though"_ he thought as his slightly panicked eyes scanned the room. Empty liquor bottles – half drank drinks sitting on night-table. Bottle of lube and…. aha… empty condom foils. Two…. Lifting his brows up, "_Well, it was a twofer night" _he noted smugly. _"Well done"_ congratulating himself with a virtual pat on the back. "

Looking back at his bed guest he realized that Blue Eyes seemed a little nervous and maybe awkward waiting for some type of confirmation. He reached over lightly trailing his hand along the man's arm.

" Last night was really great…." _ Ddd..…?_

_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_

"Dustin"…. Pretty Boy offered up realizing that Blaine had forgotten. My name is Dustin" he said with a trace of disappointment in his voice. "Look I would have left after we fucked" he shrugged, leaning up on his elbow. "But you insisted I stay and cuddle, and then I guess we both fell asleep."

_"Damn, he's really cute"_ thought Blaine.

"Dustin…I'm sorry – heads a bit foggy this morning" he admitted ruefully. "Thank you for everything" he said as he reached out to the chestnut hair boy, sweeping a lock of hair off his forehead, leaning over and kissing him softly. With a smile on his face, he kissed him again and then rolled away to get up out of bed, once again stretching him arms over his head and to the left and right making his way to the ensuite.

"I'm going to take a shower, but feel free to stay if you like." he offered as he gathered some towels. He stopped and turned "There should be some food in the kitchen if you're hungry. There's juice in the fridge. I'm sorry that I'm not able to spend more time with you but I have to get moving. Pretty full day ahead I'm afraid." He tried his best to look sincere and pulled the puppy dogs eyes for effect, just to clinch the deal.

"Oh – ok. Well I should get going myself. I have class in a couple of hours." Dustin replied, throwing off the rest of the blankets to get up.

_"Damn, he's hot_ " Blaine noted eying him up and down a few times, his dick starting to twitch. "_not now Anderson, get your shit together and in the shower before you bring it all down_" he berated himself, heading into the bathroom and stepping into the shower stall before he did something stupid like throw the boy back into bed and lick his body up one side and down the other. Fuck, his dick was really getting vested in the whole idea.

Dustin dressed himself quickly, went over to the bathroom door intending to say goodbye. But he could hear Blaine singing quietly in the shower and so he left without further words. This man was not asking for his number – he had that figured out. _"But shit man Blaine Anderson fucked me last night …. twice…_" he fist pumped the air with a big grin on his face.. Wait until his friends heard about this. He didn't even care that he would never see him again. He came, he conquered and it was fucking awesome.

Blaine hears the front door shut and thanks Buddha that the boy left. He has got to get his shit together and stop hooking up with every college aged blue –eyed chestnut haired boy he meets. This was getting ridiculous and out of hand. A shrink would have a field day with him. He sighed at the revelation as he let the hot water wash away all traces of the evening.

"Blaine – are you here" David shouted from the front door as he let himself in to the hotel suite. "Yo! Blaine! – are you here?" he repeated.

"Only if you swear to never say "Yo Blaine" again in my presence" Blaine stated as he walked out of the bedroom towel drying his hair. Low slung Dalton sweats hung on his hips, accompanied by a threadbare tattered matching Dalton tshirt.

"Always the prep boy, aren't you?" David teased with a chuckle.

"Yup that's me – dapper to the fucking core" he replied right back with a smile as he made his way to the kitchenette. He needed coffee and he needed it now. The throbbing in his head had not let up.

"Please tell me you brought coffee with you" he called out to David as he looked in distain at the instant coffee packets that were placed by the kettle. Nothing could be worse, except for the powdered milk that was alongside it. He opened a bottle of water and used it to chug down some Advil, hoping the drums in his head would subside.

"No, sorry man I didn't, but call room service and have them send up a carafe" David suggested as he followed into the kitchen space. "You're Blaine Anderson for fuck sakes- let them swoon over you – you know you want it!" He slapped him on the back with a chuckle.

"Yeah – how about YOU call it in and I'll go finish dressing so we can get the hell out of here and go to this Foundation meeting before I go to the sound check for tonight's performance"

"Yeah, sure man – no problem" as he goes to pick up the phone. "So… what was his name?" he called out to Blaine who had made his way back to the bathroom to fix his hair. He opted not to shave, preferring the one day growth for now.

"What was whose name?" Blaine questioned back.

"Whoever was here with you last night…and, by the looks of it, this morning? What was his name? – do you even remember?" David teased. "_The_ _Kurt wannabe" _he said to himself.

"Of course I fucking remember" he responded as he came back out of the bathroom towards David "It was Dustin." But then confessed, "Ok, well to be totally honest, no… I didn't remember his name, but he kindly offered it up to me. And David", Blaine got serious, bringing out the puppy dog eyes again, but this time for real, "I really _really_ have to stop picking up guys that remind me of Him. Ok? Can you at least help me out on that front?" Standing with one hand on his hip and carding his hand through his hair, his eyes shifting down to the floor, "It fucking hurts too much the next day."

"Hey man I tried! You were all over that and there is no talking to you when you're in that mood. Sorry, but what's the saying? If you can't take the heat, then get out of the kitchen?"

"Yeah – well fuck you!" Blaine bantered, with an ease that only comes with years of friendship. "I was never good at cooking and you're supposed to be looking out for me, my friend. Some Manager you turned out to be!"

"Yeah? Well I am the _some_ Manager that got you where you are today so get that tight ass of yours into some proper clothes and let's get a move on .The paps are outside looking for a pretty picture. The hell with room service" he decided, putting the phone back down on the cradle. "We'll pick up some Starbucks on the way over. Better yet – let's go to the diner down the street and grab some breakfast." Move it Anderson!"

"OK OK" Blaine concedes, sticking his tongue out while wiggling his ass as he sauntered back in to the bedroom to get dressed. 15 minutes later he emerged in skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with black converse on his feet. Hair mussed with a bit of product; just enough to tame the curls without beating them into submission, and deciding to give his eyes a rest from contact lens, he put on his black framed glasses … there - classic hipster look. Look the part – feel the part. Throwing on his leather jacket, he grabbed his phone, wallet and room key, and met David at the door. "Come on – let's go. I'm starving and in deep need of coffee" he declared walking through the open door. His friend followed with a dramatic roll of the eyes that no-one saw, but felt right regardless.

Digging in to his eggs and smearing the yolk around with his toast, Blaine questioned "Where exactly are we going for the Foundation meeting and why are we having a meeting in New York anyways?" stuffing the egg laden toast in his mouth looking expectantly at David for an answer as he chews.

David sighed and sipped his coffee. "First ...don't talk and eat at the same time. Remember Dalton manners young man" he teased. At which Blaine pretended to hit the table with a make belief gavel and smiled a big goofy egg smile.

"Second, we're meeting at one of the local high schools in Brooklyn. The district is interested and is looking at how they can participate and want to learn more about the programs in general. Wes is going to meet us there and go over all the legal issues. Since you're in town for the Gala we thought it would be fun for you to tag along, and talk about how it all began, so to speak. A little impromptu performance you might call it." "Just charm them ok?" Blaine nodded to that as he continued eating.

Wes was the tri to their trio. Also a Dalton alumni, he was now 3rd year law school at Columbia, having completed his undergrad at Harvard, and was helping them out with the legal aspects of running a foundation, which in all honesty was way above what Blaine and even David were capable of. Blaine had no idea how successful it would become. It was a win-win situation for Blaine, David and Wes. Wes was also representing him with his recording contracts and would formally become his lawyer as soon as his degree was complete.

Heeding David's advice, Blaine ate the rest of his breakfast in silence. Once he was finished he laid the cutlery on the plate, wiped his mouth with his napkin and finished the water that was left in his glass. Moving on to his coffee, he continued with the conversation.

"So we are heading over to Brooklyn and meeting some administrators in a high school to convince them to join the program? Correct?" Eyebrows raised, he looked at David for confirmation.

"Yes, pretty much." David conferred. "Only I don't know if its administrators or teachers to be honest. I think there might be some teachers there that are involved in Glee or whatever music programs they are currently running. But yeah, that's the gist of it" he said, pulling out his phone which was vibrating in his pocket. Reading a text that came through, he said "Ok text from Wes – he's on his way over there now. So we should pay up and head out. Finish your coffee Lover boy. I've got the car waiting by the curb".

"Okay then" Blaine muttered into his coffee cup, drinking down the last dregs. "No time like the present. Let's get this show on the road".

David checked the bill and threw some money down on it, making sure he left a decent tip. And they left to get into the town car for Brooklyn.


	2. Chapter 2 The Meeting

Saturday Feb. 14, 2018

Going over the Brooklyn Bridge never ceased to give Kurt a thrill. It was his constant reality check that he lived and thrived in New York City. That he had made it – albeit his initial dreams not coming true. He didn't make it into NYADA. He had fooled around with the notion of becoming a fashion designer – even an interior decorator. God, could he have stereotyped himself any more if he had tried? After the breakup with Blaine, he was forced to really look at his life and for once be honest with himself. He had been following a path that he thought he wanted, but when he was no longer going down that path with the man he loved, he realized that there were lots of other options. Ultimately he decided he wanted to help people, particularly children. Not as a teacher though or a social worker but more giving guidance; something that he had needed himself while growing up. That is how he ended up becoming a high school guidance counselor.

He enrolled at NYU and graduated with an undergrad degree in education. To complete his practicum, he chose to work at a high school in Brooklyn, where he shadowed a counselor who really reminded him of Emma Pillsbury. It was there that he saw the brochures on the Pavarotti Music Foundation. It took him a bit to put two and two together and he was completely gobsmacked when he realized that the Foundation actually existed. Being in college often equated to living in a bubble, and so he had not heard of the Foundation even though he was aware of Blaine's success. The fact that Blaine had succeeded in getting the Foundation up and running made him so proud, and yet sad at the same time. He was sad that he felt he couldn't call his ex-boyfriend to congratulate him; sad that he ended up not being a part of their dream coming true. But happy that it existed and he always made sure from that day forward that he kept up to date on the programs they offered, in case any of his students were ever interested.

Sitting in the cab now, he reflected back on all this. _Boyfriend_…Kurt contemplated the word. It had been a long time since he had called anyone his boyfriend, or for that matter his ex-boyfriend. After his break-up with Blaine he took a sabbatical on relationships for a couple of years. It wasn't until his junior year at NYU that he met Aidan. Aidan was a senior also majoring in education. It was not "love at first sight", nor did it ever become an epic romance, but it was nice and they were well suited for each other. Aidan was kind, had a good heart and not to mention was willing and able to put up with Kurt's never ending drama of not getting good enough marks, and not getting the right professors – so on and so forth. Aidan was actually a lot like Blaine in that he kept Kurt grounded and focused. But the similarity ended there. Aidan was tall, with blond hair and green eyes. His wore his hair long and Kurt didn't think he even knew that gel for hair existed, which was fine by Kurt. He wore jeans, t-shirts and sneakers and was not musical in the least bit. You might say he was the polar opposite of Blaine in most respects, which again, was fine with Kurt. When Aidan graduated a year before Kurt, he decided to teach overseas and left that June for Kenya. He would be in Africa for a minimum one year, and after discussions and tears and tearful discussions, they both agreed that a clean break would really be the wisest thing for them to do. While Aidan was willing to give the long distance a try, Kurt couldn't bring himself to do it. It was just too hard and brought back painful memories. And if they were being completely honest with one another they would both admit that neither really saw the relationship turning into a long term commitment.

After Aidan, there had been no-one special. There were hook-ups here and there, when Kurt had an itch that needed to be scratched, but no one serious. It was easier that way. He convinced himself it was better that way.

When he graduated, the very same school where he had done his practicum offered him a full time job and he jumped at the opportunity. It didn't take him long at all to settle in. He really identified with the students and they in turn seemed to hold him in high regard. Not all of them, but enough that he felt very validated in his career choice and truly always looked forward to going to work.

It was a bit of a misnomer that he was actually living in Manhattan and working in Brooklyn, going against traffic so to speak. But he liked living in Chelsea, and could afford it while he was sharing an apartment with Rachel, who was still pounding the pavement to every audition she could get herself in to. She had mild success with some off-Broadway shows and chorus lines, but the elusive "big break" had yet to happen, however they were both confident that it was only a matter of time. Living in Chelsea gave him the anonymity he needed to be able to go out and let loose and just be him without worrying about meeting up with his students. Brooklyn was a lovely borough but not where he wanted to live; working there however was perfect.

And so it was Saturday morning and he was heading in to the school to attend the district meeting being conducted by the Pavarotti Music Foundation. _How strange was this?_ To be going to hear about programs that he had actually brainstormed about with Blaine years ago. When he found out a couple of weeks back that representatives from the Foundation were coming to speak, Kurt made sure that he would be attending as a representative for his school. Both because he had so many students that could benefit from some of their programs and because he was just plain curious to hear more about how the Foundation had evolved from all those years ago.

He knew the meeting was being conducted by David and Wes and he hoped to have the chance to say hello and reminisce for a few minutes on their Dalton days, even if Kurt had only been there a short time; once a Warbler- always a Warbler. He had been informed that Blaine would not be in attendance. He was never a part of these meetings and would be busy getting ready for the gala later that night. So Kurt was going to the information meeting today, and then later that evening, he'd attend the Gala, where perhaps he'd get a chance to say hello to Blaine.

He wasn't sure what he'll say once faced with Blaine. He imagined _"Hi Blaine. It's me…Kurt… your long lost high school boyfriend whose relationship ended in a hot mess. How the hell are you?!"_

"_No, that would never do"_ shaking his head with a bit of a grimace. He'll just have to wing it and see what the occasion calls for. He'll say hi to David and Wes at the meeting, and pass along a friendly greeting to Blaine. Then who knows – maybe they could go forward and be friends again. It would be strange, but truth be told, Kurt missed Blaine. Above everything else that they were to each other, they started as friends, and it hurt his heart that their friendship ended with the break-up.

No-one had ever compared to Blaine. Not even Aidan. Cheating incident aside, Blaine was everything to Kurt. Blaine had once told him that Kurt was the love of his life, and Kurt had believed him. He never got the proper chance to say likewise. Even when the vague details of the cheating came out, Kurt knew that he meant more to Blaine than any hook-up ever could. It had all ended up being attributed to Blaine's lack of self-confidence and the inability to be on his own physically in a very emotionally wrapped relationship.

If it had happened when they were older, maybe Kurt would have been able to separate the need for physical contact from the need of unconditional love. After all, he knew lots of gay couples that had open relationships. But he couldn't at the time. They were too young, and too many words were said. Too many accusations were thrown around for there to be any closure that could result in a continuance of their relationship. So they moved on. At least in theory they did. Kurt really never moved on. He never dusted out that part of his heart that Blaine had occupied. As a result there was never enough room there for anyone else to take permanent residence - only temporary rental… so to speak.

The cab pulled up to the school and he exited, paying the driver what was owed. He noticed a black town car just down the street and guessed that it must be Wes and David's. No-one from his school was being driven around in a limo – that was for sure.

Adrenaline from nerves was building up and Kurt thought he should take a couple of minutes and go first to his office and check on some pamphlets that had been sent to him by Emma Schuester. She was still up to her old tricks with her outrageous pamphlets. Now, being older, he realized how effective they were and appreciated their brilliance. They were just entertaining and horrifying enough for the students to take notice, and getting their attention was always the first battle to be won. She had just sent him a batch of new ones and he hadn't had time on Friday to take a look, and curiosity was getting the best of him. He checked his watch – he had time. He didn't need to hear all the introductions that always preceded these meetings.

Opening the box with his keys, he reached in and started pulling them out. A note was sitting on the top of the box.

Dear Kurt,

I'm so happy that you are using my pamphlets! It means so much to me. A validation of sorts I believe.

Both Will and I hope you are well and happy in New York. Maybe one day we can bring the kids up and visit with you and Rachel. Please give her a big hug from both of us.

Kindest regards.

Emma Pillsbury-Schuester

He read it over and smiled. "Hmpph. She hyphenated her name. I didn't peg her to be one to do that. Always a surprise Ms. Emma Pillsbury-Schuester" he said to himself.

The pamphlets made him laugh out loud. They were just as expected….

There on the front was a cartooned picture of a red-faced teenage boy scratching his jeaned crotch with the headline:

**Got crabs? Well, you can't throw these ones in boiling water.**

Opening it up he read the expected information on STD's and how to be safe.

He pulled the pamphlets out and arranged some on his desk and put the rest on the bookshelf behind him.

Checking his watch again he realized that the meeting had already started. He locked up his office and ran down the hall, ignoring the educator in him that was insisting he walk, and not run.

As he approached the gymnasium he could hear someone speaking and so quietly he opened the back door. The lights were dimmed in the back, so he was able to creep in undetected. Leaning against the wall he looked around to see about 200 people seated in the bleachers and there was a head table set up on the gym floor. They had got a good turnout, he thought as his eyes scanned the room, recognizing some faculty from both his own school and neighboring schools.

But then a voice spoke, startling him... a voice from his past… a voice that he remembered and once knew so well that his heart literally started aching the second he heard it. That voice…. He looked to the voice and saw him.

It was Blaine.

Blaine was standing in the middle of the gym, in front of the table where David and Wes were sitting, along with the principal of the school. Blaine was standing…. in….his...school.

_What the fuck!_

He must have just been introduced by Mr. Carmichael as he was looking over at the man's direction, thanking him for the opportunity to come speak.

Kurt couldn't move. He stayed where he was – glued against the wall, hoping that it would support him because he wanted to slide down the wall and spill on to the floor into a pile of goo.

Blaine was beautiful. That's all there was to it. He hadn't changed one iota. A bit older, which just looked more sexy on him. His trademark smile, his demeanour; he was the whole package and he looked hot as fuck in his "I'm a NYC hipster" outfit.

"So, thank you for having us here to talk about the Pavarotti Music Foundation," Blaine said to the crowd after thanking the principal for the introduction.

"I know you weren't expecting me, but I'm in town for our annual fundraiser Gala that's happening tonight and we thought it would be a great opportunity for me to personally give you some background and insight on how the Foundation was formed and why it was formed," turning to David and Wes, "while my colleagues and friends will be able to delve more into the finer details of the actual programs and the nitty-gritty of it all" he joked, getting a few chuckles from the crowd.

"I'm only good for singing some songs and telling a few stories", he continued, flashing his megawatt smile at everyone.

"But seriously, this Foundation is very near and dear to me" He paused for a few moments, before continuing. He relaxed and leaned back on the table, supporting himself with his hands and crossing one leg over the other. Blaine looked around the room. "I went to a school that was very much like this one", he noted softly. "I had been at an all boys school, with my homies", looking back and pointing his thumb to Wes and David who were rolling their eyes but grinning broadly. "It was a very safe school. It was easy to go to. There was a zero tolerance rule on bullying of any sort – whether it was race or sexual orientation. We were all equal – we were all one. There was 100% acceptance of who you were from everyone that went there – faculty and students alike." He looked around the room, making eye contact with as many educators as he could and continued to share his story. "I had come previously to that from a public school where I was bullied and eventually was the target of a gay bashing that put me and my friend in the hospital. I missed enough school that I was held back a year, and my parents made it their mission to ensure that when I did go back it would be to a school where this couldn't and wouldn't happen again. Hence Dalton, and the Dalton Academy Warblers became my life." Blaine stood upright and now started pacing his lecture space, being rejuvenated with the memories "It was the name of our Glee club and while music was always my passion, performing was my escape. It became an ingrained part of me and my soul and after some time, I would not be able to separate the two. We competed, sure, but the real glory in it for me was just performing – whether it was a national competition or at the local nursing home; it didn't matter to me – singing and performing became my drug" he shared with a bit of an embarrassed laugh. The audience was smiling with him.

Blaine continued in a quiet and reflective tone "In my sophomore year I met a boy who would ultimately become one if not _the_ most influential person in my life."

Kurt inhaled sharply. He had been mesmerized by Blaine's words and voice and had disconnected himself from the story – until he heard himself referenced.

"This boy was sent to spy on our glee club as we would be competing against them in an upcoming sectionals competition. He thought he was being so clever – quasi dressing like us, but in reality he stuck out like a sore thumb". Blaine laughed at the memory, looking back at Wes and David as they both chuckled, and drew a few laughing audience members into his fold. Kurt smiled, remembering.

"It just so happened that we were going to perform our latest number for the students in the commons room when he stopped me for directions, so I took his hand and led him there, and then proceeded to serenade him with… wait for it…". He put his hands out and paused for dramatic affect…. "Teenage Dream by Katy Perry". Everyone laughed recognizing the song. He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair as his cheeks flared pink. Kurt laughed, looking down at his joined hands, recalling the performance.

"Yeah. Yeah. I know. I know. It was one of my finest moments! But as it turned out, when we invited the boy to stay and have coffee with us and we got to talking, we learned that he was openly gay, as I was too. And he was astonished at the acceptance of my sexual orientation by the rest of the school. He didn't have it so lucky and his story was beginning to sound a bit like mine had been prior to Dalton. The shaming, the physical abuse of being banged up against lockers – shoved into garbage dumpsters. The list goes on. Those were the games that were being played at the public school level, and the faculty just turned a blind eye to the situation" Blaine paused.

"So to make a really long story, a little less long, in time, this boy ended up at Dalton with us. He joined the Warblers and became my very best friend and eventually my boyfriend." He stopped when he heard the ooh's and aw's from the audience. It gave him time to think out what else he was going to share.

"We were together for over two years. In that time, he had transferred back to his high school, deeming it safe once more, and the following year I followed. I figured it was time for me to leave the safety net that was Dalton and prepare myself for my reality; an open gay man in the very conservative world of Ohio. So we went to public school together, and then he graduated and moved to New York City, while I had one more year to make up."

"But throughout this whole time, we had Glee. I cannot stress how important those clubs were to us. Both at Dalton and at McKinley, it was our safe haven. It was an environment whereby a group of misfits could get together and make magic with music. We won Nationals in 2011 at McKinley" he announced with a smile, fist pumping the air. "It was the epitome of everything good."

Blaine leaned back against the table again and continued. "It was during this time that my boyfriend and I would laze around and dream and plan our futures. Both academically and what it would look like together, and we both had this one dream of creating this place – this entity whereby music would be available in all shapes and forms to any kids out there that wanted it. We dreamt about after school programs for schools that didn't have the funding. I recollect there was one school in our district that was for the hearing impaired and they had to drop their Glee program for lack of funding. We dreamt about programs designed especially for LGBT kids. Where they could go and be safe to explore their musicality in a nurturing and safe environment. We dreamt about funding schools from all over the USA to be able to join Glee, because that's a voice that can be heard by all. And music is so powerful."

"So, that, ladies and gentleman, is how it all came about; two boys, in love, dreaming about making the world a better place. It was the creation of The Pavarotti Music Foundation. And as soon as I had a bit of success behind me in the entertainment industry, I was able to get it off the ground, both with funding from ourselves" gesturing a circle between him, Wes and David, "and also some celebrity endorsements. And I'm proud to say that it has become a huge success and has enabled kids from all facets of this country to be engaged in the fine arts programs that we offer." he concluded, again with a blush to his face.

While the audience applauded, he grabbed a bottle of water and guzzled it down; both because he was thirsty and because he needed to do something so he could fight the tears threatening to form in his eyes.

After a couple of moments of silence, to give everyone some time to reflect, he capped his water, looked and inquired with a smile. "So if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. This is an open forum" he stated spreading his arms out.

One woman at the front stood up and asked "Where does the name Pavarotti come from? I don't see that you offer any opera programs"

"Ah. Good question" Blaine replied ducking his head bashfully. "It actually was the name of a bird that we had at Dalton. It was a tradition for the newest member of the Warblers to take care of an actual warbler. In this case, it was a canary named Pavarotti. My boyfriend became very attached to him, and well…. yeah, that's where the name came from. It's in tribute to a warbler that brought us together" he concluded.

"Oh, that's so sweet" she replied "But the logo doesn't look like a canary" she noted looking confused at the brochures she had in her hands.

"No", Blaine answered, "The logo is indeed a blackbird, not a canary… but that's another story for another time" he added with a thin smile.

She returned his smile with a nod and sat back down.

Another hand went up and Blaine indicated to them to stand.

One of Kurt's colleagues, who was the Glee teacher in his school, asked about specific funding and grants, which Blaine gladly indicated to Wes with his hands, that it was his turn to stand and get in to the "nitty-gritty".

While Wes did just that, Kurt managed to come out of his stupor. This was all so surreal. He was standing in a school gymnasium, not unlike the one at McKinley, listening to his former best friend/lover talk about their relationship like it was the most treasured thing in his life. Had Blaine felt this all along? Kurt had thought for sure that he had moved on, and maybe he had, but he certainly did not seem to be harboring ill feelings towards Kurt. Wes was wrapping up the legal jargon of how the foundation worked and another woman stood up and indicated to Blaine that she had a question.

Blaine got up from his chair and went back to where he was standing before, politely asking what her question was.

"Well, you keep talking about your boyfriend as if he was in the past", she began, looking around the room for reinforcement nods, "and I'm guessing that there are a whole bunch of us here curious as to if you are still together and if he is a part of the Foundation too?

Blaine froze; the wind taken from his pipes. It hadn't occurred to him that by obviously bringing Kurt up, there would be a natural curiosity as to what happened in the relationship. He pulled out the megawatt smile for the audience and answered philosophically "We were young and well, young people tend to do stupid things. Well, I in particular am guilty in that department, and unfortunately we didn't make it through my senior year in high school."

She looked heartbroken too. "Oh I am sorry to hear that".

"Yes, well thank you, but it happens. And no, he is not part of the Foundation although he's always been a part of it in that a lot of the programs we offer now are a direct result of the vision he had." Blaine concluded his explanation with the smiling façade in place.

Someone else, who didn't even bother to stand, yelled out "What was his name? Do you still talk to him?"

Blaine quickly replied "Oh I'm sorry – it's not my place to name him. I need to protect his privacy" he explained. "And no, we haven't spoken in years."

There was silence in the room as Blaine looked around, hoping someone would ask another question to re-route the conversation.

"Kurt. His name is Kurt"

The voice literally came out of nowhere. Blaine whiplashed his head to the direction of the submission, but couldn't see anyone because of the lights. However he knew that voice…

"Pardon me?" he stammered, heart pounding… "I didn't see who said that".

"It's me Blaine…" Kurt announced, stepping away from the door walking slowly across the gym floor to where Blaine could see him.


	3. Chapter 3 The Reunion

Kurt stopped short of approaching Blaine outright. He didn't know why he said his name out loud. He could have just quietly slipped out undetected knowing that Blaine still thought fondly of him. But this was it. This was the moment. It was time for the grand gesture.

"_Take it Kurt Hummel. The worst that can happen is that everyone has a laugh over the coincidence of it all and then moves on_."

So, he stood there – his heart thumping so loud that he thought everyone must be hearing it, waiting for a reaction from Blaine.

Who was pretty much in hyperventilating mode, because standing 20 feet away from him was Kurt – once his best friend, lover, his reason for living. He was here in the flesh, looking more striking than he thought humanly possible. The years had done him well. He's a couple of inches taller, if that's possible, and he's filled out his frame a bit more. But the classic beauty is still there. The eyes, the hair, the lips, the skin, exuding this incredibly ethereal aura – it's still all Kurt.

And so Blaine walks over to him on shaky legs, hoping they don't give out on him. Everything else is a blur. He doesn't notice the initial silence and he doesn't hear the eventual buzz that grows in the room as the others start to realize the significance of what's happening.

When he gets to Kurt, he stops. Hearts pounding, their eyes connect after years of absence, their souls meeting again. Both stand like that for a few seconds – outreached hands holding on and then Blaine acts first, pulling Kurt into the biggest hug he has ever experienced. And being with Blaine for two years, there's been a lot of hugs. They hold on to each-other for who knows how long – 2 minutes – 10 minutes? They've lost track of time, and in reality it is probably for only a minute. Kurt pulls away and smiles bashfully, smoothing his shirt down in an effort to show some semblance of nonchalance. Blaine is still in a trance, looking at him like he's the best dream he's ever had but slowly comes back to reality and realizes there are over 200 people there, some standing, watching this reunion, and suddenly it's a little embarrassing.

So, he becomes the showman that he is and puts his hands on Kurt's shoulders, turning him around and steers him over to the centre of the gym, as they look around at everyone.

"Well I think a lot of you might already know him, but this is Kurt, and yes he is the boy in my story, the boy from my past." Looking again at Kurt, Blaine shares further "We haven't seen or talked to each other in over 6 years. So this is quite the reunion you are all witnessing". Smiling again, he can't take his eyes off Kurt, who in turn is grinning like a fool and also gazing right back at Blaine.

But Kurt shakes it off for a bit and looks around "Hi everyone – and yes, I do know a lot of you. I'm guessing you are all a bit surprised as I've never mentioned this part of my life to you, but yes, Blaine and I were together for a couple of years in high school, and I do like to think I had a little part to play in the creation of The Pavarotti Music Foundation. However, let me stress, it was Blaine, and Blaine only who got this off the ground and has fundraised tirelessly for it to survive. All kudos goes to him and his colleagues" Kurt looks over acknowledging Wes and David "for making it the success that it is today."

Blaine ducks his head. Clearly he's not so good at the compliments when it comes to matters of the heart. He looks up again at Kurt and the lump starts to form in his throat and he can feel the tears start to pool and sting in his eyes. He realizes in horror that if he doesn't leave the gym soon, he's going to completely meltdown in front of everyone.

Wes immediately clues in to it and quickly covers "Well you can imagine Kurt and Blaine must have a lot to talk about and catch up on, so they are just going to take their leave now and David and I can answer any further questions you have?" he looks at Kurt and Blaine, who in turn nod in unison.

Kurt grabs Blaine's hand and tugs him forward towards the door. "Thanks everyone" Kurt says last minute as they make it through the gym door amongst some clapping and well wishes being offered.

On the other side, he takes a deep breath and gathers Blaine in his arms, and the height difference is now notable as Blaine buries his head into Kurt's shoulder and neck. It feels familiar and strange; but mostly familiar.

"Here let's go to my office where we can get some privacy" he takes Blaine's hand and they walk down the corridor of the high school. The irony is not lost on either of them. Were they meant to always stroll down school hallways hand in hand?

They get to Kurt's office and after he fumbles with the key for a bit, he manages to get the door open and pulls Blaine in, closing and locking the door behind them. Blaine has still not spoken since his speech in the gym; he's in total shock and starts to tremble.

"Blaine, sweetie" Kurt says and thinks "_where the hell did that come from_," but liking it all the same. "Here" he opens his arms as an invitation and Blaine falls into him again. "Hey…it's okay", rubbing his back with his splayed hands "Everything is okay." Every so often he plants a soft kiss to the top of Blaine's head without thinking. He's going on total muscle memory. Everything that he would have done 6 years ago, he is doing now, except he notices there's no anger and there's no hurt – that seems to have gone away.

"Kurt – what are you doing here? This is all so unbelievable!" Blaine pulls back from the embrace, scrubbing his face with his hands, finally able to digest what was happening.

"I work here, Blaine" Kurt answers with a laugh. "I'm a high school counselor if you can believe that!"

Blaine pauses; he knew this, keeping track of Kurt's life the best he could from bits of conversations and emails where members of the New Directions had, he suspects purposely, filled him in with the occasional update on Kurt. He knew Kurt had changed his course from musical theatre to education. He didn't know where he had ended up, except that he was somewhere in New York. Never in a million years would he have guessed he'd be in Brooklyn in the exact school that they were presenting in.

Not wanting to seem like a stalker, he decided split second to feign ignorance on knowing Kurt's circumstances, "I actually do believe that Kurt. It makes perfect sense. It's such a natural progression for you" Blaine gathered Kurt's hands into his "I'm so glad to see you and see that you're happy" and then looked at him with a frowned brow "you are happy – aren't you?"

"Yes… yes, I am happy" Kurt confirmed. "It took me a really long time to come to terms with what I thought were my failures. But time showed me that not making it to Broadway was not a failure. Everything I learned – every rejection I experienced, just brought me here – and this is what I'm meant to do" adding with a laugh "And I'm good at it Blaine. I'm really _really_ good at it!"

Staring into Kurt's eyes, Blaine could see the happiness there as he spoke about his life, and his heart swelled. "I wouldn't doubt for a second that you would ever be anything but good at whatever it is that you set your mind to Kurt" Blaine affirmed, hands still clasped.

They stood there drinking each-other in, enjoying the moment. When all of a sudden there was a loud rap. Startled, they broke away, and Kurt went to answer the door, where upon opening, stood Wes and David, looking rather sheepish.

"Hi Kurt" David greeted. "It's amazing to see you again." Kurt opened the door wider to let them in, giving them both a quick hug.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the meeting is over and Blaine, you need to get back into Manhattan for the sound check" Wes informed him somewhat apologetically.

Blaine looked at Wes with a blank look on his face, and then suddenly shook his head as he processed the words… "right…fuck…. sound check… gala…performance… tonight" he reminded himself, quickly coming back to reality.

He turned to Kurt "Kurt, we have to go. But can we give you a ride somewhere? I really don't want to say good-bye to you just yet"

"Uh yes…sure.. that would be nice. I live in Chelsea if you want to drop me off there. Or I can just go where you're headed and make my way from there" Kurt offered back staring into Blaine's eyes. "I don't want to say good-bye to you either".

They piled in to the town car that was waiting for them, and Kurt managed to catch up with Wes and David as they made their way back in to Manhattan. Blaine remained mostly silent, except for when he felt the need to defend himself against the tales that Wes and David were telling Kurt. The whole way he held Kurt's hand tightly, intertwining their fingers together. Kurt was beginning to wonder if Blaine was ever going to let go, and then realized that he hoped he never would.

Time was tight, so they drove straight to the venue for the sound check. Kurt got out of the car with them, assuring Blaine that he could make the rest of the way home on the subway.

Standing with his hands in his front jeans pocket, he waited for Blaine to finish a conversation with David, so he could say good-bye before he continued on home. Blaine gave David a pat on the back, satisfied with whatever was said and turned around to talk to Kurt. David and Wes both waved Kurt off with a nod of their heads and walked into the building, giving them their privacy.

Both stood awkwardly, not sure what to say. Blaine was the first to break the silence. He found Kurt's hands once again and rubbed his thumbs around Kurt's palms "So, I really have to get inside and do this sound check and then David's telling me I have some prior commitments to meet up with key sponsors and the other performers." He stalled for a second with a slight frown. "Shit, I was really hoping to spend some more time with you this afternoon Kurt, but it doesn't look possible" he said apologetically.

"That's OK Blaine" tugging his hands for emphasis. "I totally understand. You have a really big event happening here tonight – You need to get ready for it. "In fact, I need to get ready for it too!" he admitted realizing he still hadn't decided what he was wearing.

"What?..do you mean?….are you coming tonight?" Blaine's eyes lit up with hope.

"Well, yes. Yes I am. I'm sorry" Kurt stuttered "I should have told you that. The principal at my school can't make it and so I will be unofficially Mr. Douglas Carmichael tonight" he joked. "Oh and the added bonus is that Rachel is coming with me!"

Blaine's eyes went wide "Rachel is coming tonight too?" his eyes crinkled as the grin spread on his face "That's fantastic! I can't wait to see her again. It's been so long since I've seen any of you, it feels like another lifetime" his smile breaking a bit.

"Yes, well be careful what you wish for Blaine" Kurt teased. "You never know when you'll go around a corner and bump into Puck or Finn or someone equally as annoying!"

"No, it would be great to see any of them. Those were really good times for the most part" he said softly, looking back into Kurt's eyes for affirmation.

"Yes, they were" Kurt agreed.

"OK, well I shall see you tonight then" Blaine said as he pulled Kurt in by the hands to give him a short but firm hug. He wrestled with the idea of giving Kurt a kiss, but decided it was too soon for that kind of contact, even though it was all he could do to stop himself.

Kurt pulled away, tightening the scarf around his neck "Yes, we will see you tonight Blaine Warbler!" He clasped Blaine's hands for one last squeeze and turned and started walking to the subway station.

"Don't be late tonight Kurt Hummel" Blaine shouted out at him before he went into the building "I want to spend as much time with you as possible!"

Kurt didn't answer but just smiled as he continued to make his way to the subway station.

_"OK … game on…time to get home and get sexified"_


	4. Chapter 4 The Gala

Kurt and Rachel decided to go 1950's glam for the Gala.

Rachel looked spectacular. She had gone to her friend, who did makeup and hair for the theatre, and had her hair all done up in a classic chignon. With her little black dress and impeccable accessories and makeup, she was stunning; the overall look being very Audrey Hepburn.

Kurt, in keeping with the theme, wore his vintage black Armani suit with a white silk shirt, black skinny tie and cufflinks, and swept his hair up and over, looking very "James Dean in a suit." With black patent leather shoes completing the look, he linked arms with Rachel and they left their apartment giggling, both with excitement and nervousness for what the evening would bring.

They decided they would cab it up to Midtown as a bit of a splurge. When the cab dropped them off at Rockefeller Centre, there was a small army of gala organizers to verify tickets, escort them to the security check and then direct them to the elevators. Once off the elevator, they were greeted again by more volunteers who offered a long stemmed red rose to Rachel, and a red rose boutonniere to Kurt. As he affixed it to his lapel they walked into the Rainbow Room and were awed by the display. It was decorated for Valentine's Day; twinkling lights overhead and elaborate displays of red roses adorning every available space. A jazz quartet was playing off to the side and the guests were already mingling with one another enjoying complimentary drinks from the bar and appetizers being served around the room.

They had been given a table assignment when they checked in and noted they were at table 10, but when they found the table, they couldn't see their name anywhere. No Carmichael, no Hummel and no Berry. Confused and not sure what to do, Kurt looked around to find someone who may be able to help them, and finally spotted a woman who looked official as she walked around with a clipboard discreetly at her side.

"Excuse me" catching the woman's attention before she walked on, "My friend and I are having problems finding our seats and I was wondering if you could be kind enough to double check for us?" he asked her with a smile showing her his table assignment slip.

"Of course" she smiled 'What was your name?" flipping the papers on her clipboard over to refer to the seating chart.

"Hummel" Kurt replied and then remembered "Oh no, I'm sorry – Carmichael" correcting himself, as she looked at him quizzically. "Ha!" laughing nervously he explained "I'm standing in for my boss who couldn't make it last minute. My name is Hummel but the seats will be in the name of Carmichael.

"Sure, no problem" assuring him as she scanned the chart…. "hmmmm… well you're definitely not at table 10, let me see" she continued on…. "OH! There you are!" looking up at him with a raise of her brow, "Well, it looks like someone got himself an upgrade. Your seats are now at the head table…you must have done something right" she shared with a wink.

Not really knowing what, if anything, she meant by that, Kurt blushed a bit stammering "Oh, wow, lucky us!" waving jazz hands and looking back at Rachel who was now so excited he thought she might burst into song.

"Here, follow me" the woman grabs on to his elbow to guide him over the other side of the room. It was a large table – larger than the others. He recognized some of the names, including David and Wes, the headmaster from Dalton..."_my God how old was that man?..._a couple of celebrities, and others he did not recognize.

What he did see was that he was now sitting beside Blaine with Rachel to his left. There it was; a place card: D Carmichael (Hummel/Berry) beside B Anderson.

It was looking to be a very promising night.

Once they secured their seats, they went over to the bar to get some drinks to start the night off right. As Kurt ordered a vodka soda with lime for himself and a wine spritzer for the lightweight, they marveled at the faces they recognized in the room, trying to get over the fact that they really truly didn't belong there. Fueled with alcohol the giggles got the best of them again. They couldn't help it and frankly they didn't care. They were bound and determined to have a good time.

Kurt saw Blaine make his entrance as they continued to people watch from the bar. He was transformed from his earlier look in the day. Now clean shaven, his hair gelled into submission, he looked absolutely delicious in his black tuxedo. At least that is what Kurt thought as he licked his lips tasting the lime from his drink. He had a similar boutonniere attached to his lapel and of course he'd adorned a red bow tie, which was now an official Blaine Anderson trademark.

"Kurt" Rachel nudged "There he is" whispering quietly grabbing hold of his arm. "Oh My God, look at him. He looks…. amazing"

"Rachel" he hissed… "Let go of my arm; you're wrinkling my suit", not wanting to admit that she was actually kind of hurting him, she was squeezing so hard.

"Oh, I'm sorry" she apologized letting go at once and smoothing the fabric. "I just… I just can't believe it. He's the same. He looks the same, and yet, he's not. He's famous now… and it's just weird."

He nodded in agreement as he took another sip of his drink, watching Blaine make his way through the room. He chatted it up with everyone; air-kissed the ladies' cheeks and waved over to others that he could see but could not reach. He'd place his left hand on the men's shoulders as he shook hand with his right and nod to whatever they were saying. All the time with his ever present megawatt smile never leaving his face. It's a smile that the energizer bunny could be jealous of – it just never quit.

"Yes," Kurt finally answered side glancing to his roommate – "it's a bit weird, but honestly, from the short time I spent with him; he really seems to be the same Blaine that we knew in school. You'll see as soon as you get a chance to talk to him".

And then as if Blaine could hear him, he looked over and spotted the two standing at the bar. The megawatt smile turned into a genuine smile, and he quickly finished the conversation he was having and made his way over, not once breaking eye contact with Kurt.

"Guys – you're here!" exclaiming as he reached them. Immediately turning to Rachel, he grabbed her and lifted her up in the air giving her a huge hug "Oh my God! Rachel Berry!" he put her down but kept his hands lightly on her waist. "You've no idea how much I've been looking forward to seeing you since Kurt told me you were coming! How the hell are you? You look stunning…you both look stunning", he said now looking back over at Kurt, running his eyes up and down his body and smiling wickedly at him, causing Kurt to blush.

"Blaine!" Rachel giggled. "I'm wonderful! It's so great to see you again and to see what you've accomplished. We all knew you'd do well for yourself, but really never imagined this" she indicated with her hands sweeping the room. "You must be so proud!"

Blaine bowed his head with a faint blush, slightly still uncomfortable with the accolades. "Well, thank you Rachel" looking back up at her. "Coming from you, that's a true compliment. I'll admit I've had some success, but I'll also admit that it was part talent and part bullshit luck that got me to where I am today. Don't doubt that for a minute" he added with a wink.

"Hey, feel free to say no, because this is really last minute and I don't want to put you on the spot, but I would absolutely love it if you would consider singing a song with me tonight" Blaine asked her with a hopeful look. "There are lots of music industry magnates here tonight…it would be great PR for you. And I would love to sing with you again" he said looking at her. "Just like old times."

"Really?" she squealed, "Blaine I would LOVE to sing with you. What would we sing?" she asked talking faster and faster as she flipped through her repertoire in her head… "Oh! We could sing 'Don't You Want Me Baby?"

Blaine looked panicked at the suggestion and Kurt let out a belly laugh. "Yeah Rach – that would go over so well with this crowd. Sing the song that you sang as a drunken teenager while you tried to convert my boyfriend to the straight life" he expanded with a snicker, and then blushed realizing the reference.

"Well, in all fairness, Kurt, he wasn't your boyfriend then" Rachel quipped haughtily, just having to point out his gaffe.

"Actually, Rach, Kurt has a point" Blaine followed up quickly, trying to diffuse the situation, "Not that I didn't like singing that song with you" he confirmed, "but I had something more mellow in mind; a ballad. I was kind of hoping that you'd sing One Hand, One Heart with me. You know…West Side Story…Tony and Maria...The whole Valentine theme happening here tonight?"

"Oh my god - of course!" she agreed clapping her hands. "That would be perfect, and I've been using it for audition warm-ups so I still know the words."

"Perfect! Well, I have to go and mingle a bit more, but I'll see you at the table in a little bit. I hope you didn't mind the sudden change in your seating arrangements?" Blaine sassed, and as he was leaving he took Kurt's hand in his and whispered "I've got dibs on this hand for the evening Kurt Hummel. Your hand and mine are going to have a date under the table tonight… ok?" he asked softly into Kurt's ear.

"Definitely" Kurt responded quietly. "My hand is looking forward to it".

Blaine smiled and walked away.

The Gala appeared to be a huge success and Blaine lived up to his promise, holding Kurt's hand under the table the entire evening, only letting go when they ate and when he had to leave to perform. The meal was an impressive five courses with different wines paired to each course. Kurt had to pace himself, as he had already consumed quite a bit of vodka and didn't want to get sloppy. Rachel's cheeks were rosy red as she talked up a storm to the poor man sitting on her left. Kurt heard snippets of "Broadway" and "NYADA" and "auditions" with the occasional "Barbra" thrown in.

For Kurt, he was happy just internalizing and observing everyone around him. David and Wes were clearly best friends – anyone could see that. The Headmaster at Dalton was indeed really old and everyone had to speak quite loudly for him to hear the conversation over the general noise in the room. The celebrities were… well, celebrities… what more could he add to that. They seemed nice enough from what he could make out.

After the dessert dishes were cleared and the coffee was being offered, it was time for the entertainment portion of the evening to begin. David got up and went to the podium where, acting as Emcee, he did the usual greetings and mentions of those that sponsored the event. There was a live auction to be held at the end of the evening, he reminded everyone, for a luxurious 5 star trip to Paris, and there was the room of various silent auction items that one could still bid on for another hour.

Once that was out of the way, he repeated his brief talk from earlier that day at the school outlining the programs offered through the Pavarotti Music Foundation and why fundraising, like this evening, was critical to ensure their continuance. He then proceeded to introduce the first performers. They were a group of Glee kids that had formed in the Chicago area as a direct result from the funding they received through the Pavarotti Music Foundation.

Blaine leaned over and whispered into Kurt's ear, "This group is fantastic Kurt! They're from the south side of Chicago and would not have been able to go to competitions if they hadn't received a grant from the Foundation." Kurt nodded and gave Blaine's hand a squeeze, which in turn caused Blaine to turn back around and plant a small kiss on his cheek. No-one seemed to notice, except Rachel, as everyone was watching the students get ready for their performance. Kurt could have sworn that his cheek actually tingled for a good ten minutes.

They sang the three songs that they had sung at their Sectionals competition, winning them first place and the right to move on to the Regional competition next month. Blaine's band accompanied them, and Kurt had to admit, they were really good. Possibly even better than the 2011 New Directions, which Rachel emphatically disagreed with when they discussed it later.

The second performance was by the Dalton Academy Warblers. They were still a capella and although they were a smaller group than the one Blaine, Kurt, David and Wes had been in, they were nevertheless magnificent. They too had won their Sectionals competition, beating out McKinley High.

And then came the time that everyone had been waiting for; Blaine's performance. He and Rachel had quietly slipped out during the Warblers performance to warm up. Kurt whispered "break a leg" to him, causing Blaine to smile and wink at him as he got up to leave.

David once again took the podium to introduce Blaine. "And now we come to the highlight of the evening Ladies and Gentlemen. It's with pride that I can introduce one of my best friends to you. We've known each other since we were 15 years old, going to Dalton Academy together and being fellow Warblers in our Glee Club. Even back then we all knew that this man was destined for greatness. He is a consummate performer and a Dalton gentleman to the core. Last year he was named Best New Artist at the Grammy's and he has had 2 singles go platinum to date. He is the Founder and CEO of the Pavarotti Music Foundation and the reason why we are all gathered here together.

Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together and give it up for my friend, my business associate, my brother-in-arms, Mr. Blaine Anderson!" David concluded the introduction with a resounding round of applause as everyone joined him welcoming Blaine on to the stage where he sat down on the piano bench.

Waiting for everyone to quiet down and take their seats, he softly started running his hands up and down the keys warming up his fingers and settling into the music.

When he felt he had everyone's attention, he took hold of the mic to position it better and started speaking.

"Thank you everyone. Thank you for that wonderful welcome" and twisting around to find David, "thank you man for the intro. You really are like a brother to me and I'm so glad we are working together" and then to lighten the mood he added "and we haven't killed each other yet…. It's rather remarkable!" David nodded in agreement and everyone chuckled.

"So tonight is a special night for so many reasons. First, it's special because of why we are here. Any time I can do something positive for the continuation of this Foundation, I think it's rather special."

"Secondly, it's special because it's Valentines Day" he said with a smile. "So, Happy Valentine's Day to you all! I hope you're getting lots of kisses today. Everyone deserves kisses. That's kinda special, don't you think?" he asked around nodding his head, still playing the piano keys.

"And thirdly" he paused and stopped playing. "Is that even a word?" he asked around with a puzzled look. "Thirdly?" Giving his head a shake he continued his playing saying defiantly "I don't even care. It's a word tonight…. And _thirdly_" he repeated "I am thrilled that in our midst tonight is a wonderful singer who I had the pleasure of singing with in Glee when I was in public school. Our Glee club won Nationals in 2011 and that same year we played Tony and Maria in the school version of West Side Story. Ms Rachel Berry is here tonight and has agreed to come up and sing One Hand, One Heart with me. So, please help me welcome Rachel to the stage" he encouraged the audience, who all started clapping as she made her way to the piano.

Standing to his side, they sang the duet together. Rachel gave it her everything and by the end, even Kurt had tears in his eyes and he had heard it so many times before. Their voices blended beautifully – each bringing the best of the other out. It was an endearing performance and perfect for the evening. After receiving a standing ovation from everyone, and a kiss on the cheek from Blaine, Rachel did her obligatory curtsies and made her way back to the table where she grabbed Kurt's hand, squeezing so hard he thought she was going to break his fingers.

"That was fantastic Rach" he congratulated her. "I'm so proud of you!" She gave him a side hug from her seat. "Thanks Kurt…. I gotta tell you" she confided "that was almost better than sex!" breaking them both up with laughter.

When the room quieted down, Blaine started again on the piano, announcing softly "This is for all the lovers in the room" and proceeded to start singing his hit "I'll Never Say Goodbye".

It was a beautiful song, and while Kurt had heard it before, he had never really paid a lot of attention to the lyrics. But sitting there, watching Blaine perform it, he listened. And then he got it. He couldn't believe he hadn't got it before. This song was about THEM. It was a story of undying love between two people; soul mates. A promise made by one lover to the other to never say goodbye.

_What the actual fuck!_

How could Kurt have heard this song as many times as he had, and never figured that out? Perhaps, he reasoned to himself, he hadn't wanted to. Unconsciously knowing what the song was about, but unable to really process it? In any case, it was all becoming clear to him now, and tears were coming back to his eyes again. He blinked madly trying to keep them at bay. He did not want to cry in front of everyone. He could see Rachel side-eying him. She must have figured it out too and was attempting to make sure he was ok. He couldn't look at her, but he blindly took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She squeezed back in affirmation. He continued to watch Blaine sing the song. Blaine turned his head every so often and made eye contact with him. Kurt felt safe that Blaine could not see the emotion in his eyes and would smile a little at him with each glance.

When the song was over, there was a roar of appreciation from the crowd. It was what everyone was waiting to hear that evening and what everyone assumed was his last song.

Blaine got up from the piano grabbing the cordless microphone and went to the centre stage. But instead of thanking everyone for coming and saying good night he waited again until the applause had stopped and asked everyone to be seated.

"So, when I was a teenager at Dalton Academy, a very good friend of mine insisted that Valentine's Day was just a miserable excuse for corporations to profit from greeting card and chocolate sales." he began his tale, looking over to Kurt smugly who was sitting there with a bit of a bitchface, trying to look smug back. "But lo and behold, he eventually came around and I ended up being the cynical one when I got turned down by a boy I thought I was in love with. I made the enormous mistake of trying to woo him by serenading him at his workplace" Blaine admitted embarrassingly. "It will be forever referred to as the Warbler's Gap Attack and Blaine Anderson's Day of Humiliation!" he recalled laughing with the audience.

"So, my friend and I both ended up on Valentine's Day with no dates, and instead…his idea…we gathered up the Warblers and sang to all our other single friends at a local restaurant"

Blaine moved over on the stage and signaled to someone at the side that it was time. "I'd like to bring back out all the performers from tonight and I'm also asking David and Wes to come join us on stage for an impromptu rendition of one of the songs we sang that night". Motioning over to David and Wes to join him, they moved around the tables to get to the stage, as surprised as everyone else, but certainly willing to participate. As they got in to Warbler formation, Blaine again paused one more time "And now I'd really love it if that same friend, from all those years ago, would come up and join us too, because he's here tonight…Kurt?" he asked looking at Kurt, hand extended out.

Kurt had been sitting, watching the whole scene unfold, and hadn't even considered the possibility of being asked on stage, but once Blaine invited him, he realized of course he should be up there. That night _had_ been his idea – _his_ show. He couldn't believe Blaine remembered and he couldn't believe Blaine wanted to re-create it, but it was perfect.

So, Kurt got up from his chair, with the help of a little shove from Rachel, and to the applause of those around him he accepted Blaine's hand as he brought him on stage whispering "I'm going to get you for this."

"I'm counting on it!" Blaine replied with a knowing wink.

As the Warblers started their doo wop Blaine thanked the audience, "Ladies and Gentleman, thank you so much for being a part of this wonderful evening. We thank you for your continued support and we wish you a life of love and happiness. Happy Valentine's Day! And we'll end the evening now with "Silly Love Songs".

And they began to sing.


	5. Chapter 5 The Encore

It had been an extraordinary evening. The organizers wouldn't know exactly how much money was raised until all the tallying was completed, including the proceeds from the silent auction and private donations. However, the trip alone auctioned off for $120,000, over half of what the Gala had brought in last year. And that was not even accounting for the ticket sales.

Blaine had been on his game all evening. He schmoozed and he dazzled. He flirted, only with the ladies, and he small talked every last person in the room. He was exhausted. But throughout the whole night he had one eye on Kurt; Kurt who looked fucking edible in his Armani. Blaine just wanted to peel off the layers and lick and nibble him from top to bottom. He knew Kurt was feeling it too – they'd been practically eye fucking each other all night, but he wasn't sure how far they would take things considering they had just met up again that day.

_"Fuck, was it really just one day?"_ It seemed like an eternity ago when he woke up that morning.

_Fuck_. He woke up that morning with a boy in his bed. And now here was Kurt – the love of his life. He knew he was going to have to have "the talk" with him and come clean to him regarding his sex life, but he just really didn't want it to be tonight.

Tonight he just wanted to be with him – in whatever way Kurt was willing. He'd be happy to just hold him all night if he could. They needed to get out of there and be alone for a bit.

Saying goodnight to guests as they left and declining invitations to after-hours parties, he made his way over to Kurt, who was sitting at the table talking quietly to David. Rachel had excused herself about a half-hour prior, feigning a slight head-ache, although she had a bit of a smirk on her face as she said her good-nights, kissing both Kurt and Blaine on the cheeks, thanking Blaine again for the opportunity and wishing them both a good evening.

Unbeknownst to Blaine, she made her way back over to her theatre friend's house; giving Kurt the apartment to himself should he want to bring Blaine back to their place. Kurt hadn't decided what the situation called for yet thereby not giving Blaine any clues as to what was going on.

Blaine walked up behind Kurt, resting his hands on his shoulders, giving him a bit of a rub, eliciting a soft moan from Kurt. He quickly discovered that soft moans from Kurt equated to a hard dick for Blaine. Knowing that this was neither the time nor place to get an erection, he moved aside and sat down in Rachel's chair, joining in the conversation.

"Well Blaine" David stated "You've outdone yourself again, as usual. This was by far the single best thing you've done to date for the Foundation. It's going to keep us going for quite some time, don't you think?" he asked his friend.

Blaine found Kurt's hand and wrapped his around it, thumbing the man's palm, "For sure – tonight was amazing. I still can't quite believe it, but I'll take it!" he agreed with a smile.

David stood, swilling back the last of the wine in his glass, and excused himself from their company "I'm going to find Wes and take off. Today was a long day. I'm tired. I must be getting old" he realized with a laugh as he made his way around the table, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, he leaned over "goodnight you two. Kurt, it was great seeing you again. Blaine, I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, he moved on to find Wes and head back to the hotel.

"So, man of the night, this was something wasn't it?" Kurt flirted with Blaine a bit, now that they were alone.

"Yes, it was definitely something" bringing Kurt's hand up to his lips, he placed a soft kiss, all the while looking in to Kurt's eyes "Did I tell you how fucking hot you look tonight?" he asked him quietly, mouthing along his knuckles.

Kurt blushed "No, I think I would have remembered if you had said something like that"

"Well you do Kurt. So much so I can hardly stand it. I'm half hard right now just looking at you" And to prove his point, he brought Kurt's hand down to the bulge in his pants, forcing his palm down just a bit to feel the evidence.

Kurt didn't back down. With the one hand on Blaine's crotch, he shifted in his chair and brought his free hand down on to Blaine's thigh and slowly started rubbing up and down. "My sentiments exactly" is all Kurt said, licking his lips as he stroked Blaine's leg.

Blaine groaned. "Shit, Kurt, can we get out of here and go somewhere else? I don't mean to go fuck or anything like that. I just need some alone time with you." he explained. "We haven't even caught up with each others lives yet. For all I know you could have a boyfriend….wait." Blaine stopped and frowned, "You don't have a boyfriend do you Kurt? Please tell me you don't."

Kurt laughed "No Blaine, I do not have a boyfriend" rolling his eyes at Blaine's obvious look of relief. "And yes, let's get the hell out of here and go talk or make out or something. I always loved our make out sessions. Scheduled and unscheduled" he recalled flirtatiously with a smile.

"OK" Blaine answered breathless, a little in awe of where this was going.

"We can go back to my place" Kurt suggested. "Rachel had the foresight to make herself scarce and went to her friends to crash. We can hang out and reacquaint in peace and quiet."

Blaine pulled him up standing, grabbed both his hands and held them up to his heart. "Singing One Hand, One Heart tonight, it reminded me of our first time. Do you remember that Kurt?" Blaine asked him hesitantly, looking intently into his eyes.

All Kurt could see were pools of amber and all he wanted was to wrap himself up in this man and lose himself to every feeling and sensation he knew. "Of course I remember Blaine. It was the best night of my life."

"Mine too Kurt" Blaine rested his forehead on Kurt's for just a few seconds.

"Come on – let's go" Kurt said as he pulled Blaine towards the elevator. He had to get his coat from the coat check and then wait for Blaine to say a few more goodnights to the organizers and thank yous to the musicians who helped out for the night, and then they were off.

They decided to walk for a bit. It was cold, but it was good to get some fresh air – wipe out the cobwebs and the end effects of the wine and alcohol they had consumed. As crazy as it sounded, whatever was going to happen, they both wanted it to happen at their own volition, not because alcohol impaired their judgment.

They started walking silently down the street in the direction of Kurt's neighborhood. It felt strange for both of them. This was what they had dreamed of all those years ago.

Walking down the street together in the city that they had both assumed they'd call home.

With the man that they both assumed would be their one and only for life.

Too many assumptions had been made.

"Weird isn't it?" Blaine finally verbalizing what they were both thinking.

"Yeah, it really is" Kurt agreed side-eying Blaine. "But the really weird part is that it doesn't feel too terribly weird… If that even makes sense?"

"I know!" Blaine stops, finding Kurt's hands again "Here we are after all these years and yes it's weird, but it also feels so right" he said shaking his head almost in disbelief. "To be walking down the street with you. Holding your hands" he swings their hands now for emphasis "I feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be" he admits to Kurt, pulling him in slowly.

Kurt stepped in a bit closer to Blaine, like a magnet was pulling him. Not breaking eye contact, his hands slowly unclasped and rose up to Blaine's shoulders. One hand wrapping around his neck, he pulled Blaine in closer until their faces were mere inches from each other. "I feel the same way" Kurt said staring into Blaine's eyes; blue and hazel melding together.

Both could now feel the breath of the other. And then lips touching; softly, so softly at first. Then more contact as they reached further for each other. Blaine latched onto Kurt's hips to steady himself, and Kurt pulled him in even further, their mouths opening to a deeper kiss. Tasting each other again; wet kisses with soft needy moans. Blaine reached into Kurt's coat and ran his hands up and down his side giving Kurt shivers. They broke contact – Kurt laughed a bit from the tickle; Blaine flushed from the contact.

"Here's a question for you" Kurt asks Blaine, not looking in his eyes, but holding on to his jacket and looking at the zipper. "Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that this would ever happen?" finally getting the nerve to look up to Blaine.

"_This_…. being you and I?" Blaine asked with Kurt nodding. Blaine thought for a moment, wanting to make sure the right words came out of his mouth "To be completely truthful...no. I really didn't think this would ever happen."

Sensing Kurt's withdrawal he quickly followed with "Not that I didn't want it to Kurt… I did….. I do! But I honestly thought I had fucked everything up sufficiently enough that you'd never want to speak to me again. It was me Kurt…all me. You didn't cheat. I did. So the fact that I'm here with you, well it's blowing my mind quite frankly" he confessed, "And I'm just scared that you're going to come to your senses and tell me to get lost. And I wouldn't blame you if you did."

But then Blaine inched his way back into Kurt's personal space, grabbing on to his coat, whispering "But please don't Kurt…Please don't turn me away. I don't think I could handle it again." he whispered breathlessly into Kurt's ear… "Please Kurt… "

Kurt wrapped his arms around the man and covered his pleas with his mouth "I'm not saying goodbye to you ever again Blaine. That's a promise" sealing his mouth with a deep kiss.

Breaking for air Kurt decided they had walked enough. "Come on. Fuck walking. Let's find a cab… It's freezing outside" Wrapping his scarf tighter around his neck he looked up the street for a cab, and flagged down the first one that came. They clamored into the back and Kurt gave the driver his address. Still unsure of all that's been said, Blaine is quiet externally, but internally his brain is screaming. He doesn't know what he's doing and he isn't sure what is going to happen tonight, but he knows he can't go through the withdrawal again. Not now. He's too far back in, and he's still so positive that Kurt is going to pull the rug out from underneath his feet.

"You know – we never really did talk about it" Blaine says softly. Kurt turned to look at him, not understanding at all what he meant "Pardon? Talk about what?"

"IT – what I did." Blaine takes a breath "the cheating Kurt. We never talked about it." "We fought over it, and cried over it and accused each other of awful things out of hurt" he recollected looking at Kurt, "But we never sat down and rationally talked about it as adults".

Kurt swallowed and it felt like he had something stuck in his throat "And this talking…. Is this something you think is important for us to still do...after all this time? Because Blaine I'm over it" Kurt assured him. "I'm really over it. That was a long time ago and I came to accept it for what is was" he said looking at Blaine. "But if you haven't, and you feel we need to talk, then yes, I'll talk to you about it. But not tonight ok? Let's give each-other one day where we are not going to dwell on our sordid past" he half smiled, trying to get Blaine to loosen up a bit.

It seemed to work as Blaine looked back up with relief clearly on his face and smiled faintly "Ok then. Thank you. We'll have a civilized conversation about what an asshole I was to you one day soon, but not tonight…deal?"

"You have a deal"

"Good! Do we need to shake?"

"Shake – no. Kiss – yes" Kurt answered, shifting over so he could capture Blaine's lips with his own. Blaine pulled Kurt in, sucking on to Kurt's lower lip, causing Kurt to sigh and Blaine to suck harder.

Suddenly the cab pulled over; at first making Blaine believe they were getting kicked out for lewd behavior before realizing they were at Kurt's apartment. Kurt paid the cabbie and they got out of the car and quickly raced up the stairs to get out of the cold.

Kurt and Rachel lived on the third floor of an older tenement building. It did have an elevator but it broke down a lot and instead of risking being trapped for hours on end, they had elected to always use the stairs. They considered it forced exercise.

Inside the apartment was quite nice. It had 2 bedrooms; one being the master with the ensuite bathroom which had a shower. This was Kurt's room as he was working steadily and paying more rent. The other room was smaller, but Rachel didn't mind as she had full use of the main bathroom which had the bathtub. An open concept kitchen/dining room/living room made the place seem a bit bigger than what it was. It was comfortable and Blaine could see Kurt's influence throughout the décor and it made him happy to know that he had made a home for himself in this city. Maybe it wasn't the life Kurt had planned, but it seemed to have turned out nicely for him. Blaine couldn't help but wonder how he could fit in to any of this, living so far away, with a lifestyle so opposite.

"Make yourself at home" Kurt insisted, taking Blaine's coat and scarf, tucking both away in the closet with his own. "Do you want some coffee or anything?" he asked as he came back in to the living room.

"Maybe some water would be good?" Blaine suggests, and they both went into the kitchen to pour two large glasses of water. "I'm actually going to take a couple of Advil too, just so I don't have a hangover tomorrow" Kurt decided, finding the drugs in the cabinet and dropping a couple into his hand. He held the container up, looking questionably at Blaine as if to ask if he wanted some too. "Sure why not" Blaine said holding his hand out. "Might as well. I didn't drink a lot, but I'm sure it won't hurt" and he popped a couple as well chasing it with his water.

"There! Now neither of us can use the hangover excuse tomorrow" Blaine reasoned.

They walked back into the living room, settling on the sofa, so that they could face each other and rest their arms on the back, they lightly rubbed their hands together. It was nice. It was comfortable.

"You have a really nice place here Kurt" Blaine said glancing around the room "I'm glad that you and Rachel stuck it out together. Although I have to admit, I'm not sure how you did it."

"Rachel can be exasperating at times. That's for sure", Kurt agreed. "But at the end of the day, she always has my back. She's pretty reliable with the rent, and we have fun together. That's the most important thing I think."

"Fun…..hmmph." Blaine thought about that. "I think I've forgotten what true fun is like" he admitted ruefully. Unconsciously rubbing his hand up and down Kurt's arm, "My life is… well… it's caged I think is the best description."

Kurt looked over at him, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "What do you mean by caged."

"Well, sometimes I feel like Pavarotti the canary. He was a pretty thing with a pretty voice. Everyone liked to hear him sing. But he was kept in that damned cage, never allowed to get out and explore the world. Always being fed and watered and cared for in general, but no other canary to love; no-one to nurture him." Blaine finished with a huff and a shrug.

"Wow! That's pretty deep Blaine" Kurt tried to lighten the mood a bit "Comparing yourself to Pavarotti." nudging Blaine's leg with his foot continuing the metaphor "From what I hear and see, it looks to me that you have your fair share of canaries to love."

Blaine looked over at where their hands lay, before looking back at Kurt, squirming a bit further into the sofa. "So, this is it I guess. The time has come for me to divulge to you the sexual escapades of one Blaine Anderson?"

"Only if you want to, Blaine. I'm going to assume that what I know is accurate and it doesn't change anything. Who am I to judge? Sorry to disappoint but I'm no angel. You just don't get to see the pictures and read about me in the magazines."

The thought of Kurt being as sexually active as him stirred all sorts of emotions in Blaine. Of course Kurt was having sex. It would be unreasonable to think he wasn't. But Blaine didn't like to think of Kurt in that way, with other men. He had put him up on a pedestal years ago and didn't want to take him down.

"Have you had many boyfriends since we broke up?" Blaine asked, suddenly needing to know more.

"Umm... one serious boyfriend" Kurt shared. "We were together for just over a year, and then he graduated and moved away. After that I just decided that relationships are hard, and I've kept it casual"

Kurt didn't want to share the real reason behind his lack of boyfriends. That the first thing he did when he met a guy was size him up and compare him to Blaine. He didn't want Blaine to know that when he was making out with other guys, he kept imaging that their lips were Blaine's lips – their hands were Blaine's hands. No, he was not going to share that. Not yet anyways.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I think he was an idiot for letting you go!" Blaine stated. "Anyone lucky enough to have you by his side should never let you go" he continued, gathering courage. "I should know," pointing his thumb at himself.

"Yes, well we all fuck up from time to time, don't we?" Kurt answered. "You need to stop beating yourself up about it Blaine. We were young. Hormones were raging. We didn't know how to live apart from one another. And I was just as much to blame. The signs were all there that you were in trouble, and I didn't take the time to recognize it. You might have done the physical damage, but I was just as much at fault. There were two of us in that relationship Blaine. Don't forget that."

They were quiet as Blaine absorbed what Kurt was saying. All of it being true. The past was the past, and they could only go forward. He needed to not dwell on it, and go forward. Kurt was here. They could do this maybe. Repair the damage and move on. He needed to make this happen; he needed to try.

"OK" Blaine determined. "No more wallowing in self pity…for either of us."

He smiled at Kurt and decided to get a little flirty shifting the mood, "So when you bring men home, is this what you do? Sit on the sofa and have deep philosophical discussions on life and relationships?" he asked as he moved over slightly more towards Kurt.

"Well, that and other stuff." Kurt flirted back before confessing "Honestly, Blaine, I actually don't bring men home. I'm more of a guest than a host. I mean Rachel's usually around, and that's not fair to her, and it just feels a bit like an invasion of my privacy."

Blaine thought about what he was saying, realizing at once that Kurt had brought him back here without hesitation, and trying not to read too much into it.

"And also" Kurt continues an after-thought "That way I don't have to worry about the guy staying the night. I can get up and leave."

Blaine nodded at that at once, remembering earlier this morning when he discovered Dustin in his bed… _arrghhh Dustin_…he needed to come clean. "Speaking of that Kurt" Blaine started slowly "There is something you should know, in case tonight escalates" he pointed back and forth between them.

"OK" Kurt replied looking a bit confused but curious to hear more.

"So, you know I'm no angel either – I think that's been established succinctly". Kurt nodded slowly in agreement as Blaine continued, "I too don't like sharing my bed overnight, but I never seem to have the propensity to actually get anyone to leave, and so quite often they end up staying…like for instance, this morning." he finished, looking over at their hands, not having the guts to see the reaction in Kurt's eyes.

It took a little bit for Kurt to catch on, but when he did, confusion turned into realization and he pulled back slightly. "Ohhh... Ok I get it. You had sex with someone last night…And he was still in your bed this morning?"

Blaine nodded in confirmation, finally looking up.

"This morning?" Kurt repeated and Blaine nodded again.

While Kurt didn't look mad or hurt, he did look guarded. There was something in his expression that wasn't there before and Blaine couldn't read it.

"And is said lover still in your room?" Kurt inquired with one eyebrow raised.

"No. No… Kurt – NO! It's not like THAT" Blaine grabs Kurt's hand back in an attempt to ground them both. "No, he left first thing, and believe me, it meant nothing. It never means anything. Shit, I often don't even remember the sex. I'm usually too wasted and blank out." Blaine looked down at their joined hands, remorseful that he's even had to have this conversation.

Kurt leaned back now into the sofa, letting go of Blaine's hand; he needed to put distance between them. It was a lot to absorb. Here they were in Kurt's apartment together, and really, Kurt had planned on seducing Blaine into his bed, not knowing where it would lead to, but wanting to end the evening on a perfect note; something spectacular to remember forever. But he couldn't now. He could not have sex with Blaine on the evening of the same day he slept with someone else. That was a hard line that Kurt couldn't cross. This wasn't going to happen tonight.

Blaine immediately sensed the shift and knew that the door had closed. He was pissed, not at Kurt, but at himself, that again he managed to fuck things up with Kurt.

"I'm really sorry Kurt" he apologized. "Obviously if I had had any inkling of what the day would bring, I never would have hooked up with the guy. I hope you believe that."

"Of course I do Blaine. It's just bad luck, or fate or something. Maybe the gods are trying to tell us something" Kurt joked, trying to lighten the tension that had made its way back in to the room.

Blaine snorted "yeah. They're trying to tell us that I'm still a fuckup."

"Oh for God sakes Blaine…Stop it. Stop blaming yourself for everything that happens. Sometimes shit happens for no reason. Tonight wasn't meant to be for sex. We've still had an incredible day and evening and I'm so glad to have reconnected with you" Kurt leaned over and kissed Blaine softly on his lips.

Blaine sighed "Me too" returning the kiss.

A couple of tender kisses later Blaine announced that he should go. It was bordering on the middle of the night and they both needed to get some sleep. As they walked to the door, Blaine gathered his coat and scarf, and Kurt inquired "How long are you in New York for?" hoping that he might be here for a few days and they could meet up again.

"Technically?" Blaine looked down at his watch "I leave today" looking up sadly at Kurt. "My flight is this afternoon. I've got some meetings this afternoon in LA and a function that I have to go to tonight for my label."

"Ah the life of the rich and infamous" Kurt teased, trying not to show his disappointment.

"Something like that" Blaine pulled Kurt in for a hug, smothering his face into Kurt's neck, engaging all sensory perception so he could recall it when he's back on the westcoast.

He moved back to better look at Kurt "Hey, this might sound crazy but maybe you could come out to LA sometime soon? Come see where I live? It's not New York, but it's pretty cool" he continued in an effort to convince Kurt "It's really nice and sunny and warm" he mused "and there are lots of nice places to shop at…. Beverley Hills... Rodeo Drive…. Am I saying the right things Mr. Hummel?" he asked, blatantly batting his eyelashes.

Kurt giggled. "Yes, you're saying the right things… especially the part about shopping!" "So, maybe I could" he pondered. "Spring break is next month. I had thought about going back home to Lima to visit Dad and Carol, but nothing's been set in stone. Would that work for you?"

Blaine wanted to throw a fist in the air, but instead tried to curb it internally. "That would be awesome Kurt!" he rolled back and forth on his feet despite himself. "It's going to be so much fun. You'll see! You're going to love it there. I know it!"

They pulled in for another hug and a few more kisses, before remembering to exchange phone numbers and email addresses, promising to nail down the dates right away. And after saying their lengthy good-byes, Blaine finally left with Kurt closing his door quietly.

It was going to be a long month.


	6. Chapter 6 The City of Angels

But the month went quicker than either expected. They were both incredibly busy with their jobs.

For Kurt, it was the deadline for college application submissions, and so he was up to his eyeballs with students still undecided on where to apply and coming to him for last minute advice and application forms. Then the mid-term exams started before the break. That was a time for many students to have minor meltdowns and needing Kurt for extra guidance and support. Also he was an adjudicator for the exams.

For Blaine, he was busy promoting his upcoming album. He performed at various venues, mostly benefits for charities like The Trevor Project and Make a Wish Foundation. Any time he was asked to perform, he'd oblige. It was what he needed to do to get his music out to everyone. He went on the TV circuit, appearing on talk shows, both daytime and night-time. Kurt made sure to record each one to watch privately over and over again. Whenever they started questioning Blaine about his love life he got very elusive, always answering the question with a question or changing the subject entirely.

Hollywood noticed.

The magazines were beginning to speculate once they realized that Blaine suddenly wasn't on the party train, keeping his distance from the usual crowd he hung out with. Rumors started floating around that he found someone special. And while Kurt did not presume anything, he couldn't help feeling a bit smug, knowing that Blaine was taking the possibility of a renewed relationship seriously.

There was talk of Blaine heading out on tour, which was exciting. David was busy working on the details for that to happen. It would be a modest tour; small venues in the U.S. with possibly a few Canadian dates thrown in, but to headline anything would thrill Blaine to pieces. It was really all about performing to him. The writing and recording was great, but it was the live performance that did it for him. Always has been – always will be.

February quickly turned into March with winter thawing into spring. They had emailed each other immediately once Blaine returned to LA, and quickly settled on a date that would work for both of them. Blaine was still going to have to work a bit, but it wasn't anything deal breaking. Kurt decided he would enjoy it anyways as most of it involved performances and a couple of small venue events. In the end, including weekends, they would have ten days together. Kurt and Blaine could hardly wait.

They continued emailing which eventually evolved to text messaging, to the point where they were in constant contact with one another on a daily basis. The evolution of technology certainly made it easier for the heart to stay fond in a long distance situation.

They had not progressed to Skype however. Blaine had suggested it, but Kurt hated the way that everything was delayed a few seconds, and secretly, he was afraid it could open the door to the possibility of having cyber sex; something he was entirely uncomfortable with given the early stage of their relationship. So they kept it to texts and emails with a weekly telephone call.

Kurt was on the subway home, when he felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket. Taking it out he saw Blaine's name calling and answered quickly, "Well hello there Westcoast!"

He heard Blaine chuckle "Hello to you too Eastcoast! How is your day?"

They had gotten into the silly habit of referring to each other as the coast they lived on. It started when they would constantly have to remind the other of the time difference between them. So, if Kurt was saying goodnight to Blaine, he'd forget that it was still early in the westcoast and visa versa for Kurt in the eastcoast.

It was Kurt that first referred to Blaine as Mr. Westcoast one night in jest, and it just kind of stuck, quickly dropping the Mr to save time and energy. They thought it was cute but everyone else, namely Rachel and David, thought it was nauseating and would roll their eyes whenever they heard them talking.

"Well my day is over, but it was great. I'm just on the subway going home. How's your day and what's up?" Kurt was curious as their weekly telephone call was usually scheduled for Sunday. The fact that Blaine was calling him now raised his curiosity.

"My day is still happening – its early afternoon and its fine – better now that I'm talking to you. And ask me what's up when you get here" joked Blaine "I'm sure it will only take me about 10 minutes after you land."

Kurt groaned at the attempted joke. "You are so lame sometimes Blaine. You're going to have to come up with better ones than that."

"OK I'll see what I can _come up_ with before you get here." Blaine laughed at his own dorkiness. "Speaking of which, I just wanted to call to let you know that I will be at the airport to pick you up."

There had been a strong possibility that Blaine wouldn't be able to get him due to scheduling issues, and that David might be picking him up, so he wanted to fill him in on the change.

"That's great Blaine! I can't wait to see you. The kids are all so jealous when I told them I was going to LA. Some of them want to come with me… like a school trip or something!"

"Well, I sincerely hope that none of them are accompanying you, as they will end up getting seriously schooled as soon as we're alone together" Blaine advised him, his voice a bit deeper and gruffer, giving Kurt serious chills up his spine.

"Don't worry. No-one is stepping off that plane but me. I'm all yours – just me" Kurt promised.

"Good. So, just so you know, there could be paparazzi at the airport. They are there all the time looking for photo opps so just be prepared. I'll try my best to be incognito. They really couldn't care less about me, but if they see me, they'll take pictures."

Kurt hesitated. He really hadn't thought at ALL about that…strangers taking photos of them together. The whole concept seemed so random.

"Kurt? Are you still there?"

"Oh, yes, sorry - deep in thought. I'm going to have to rethink my entire wardrobe now that I know I might be photographed" he confessed.

"Don't bother Kurt! You always look amazing no matter what. I really don't think we'll have any problems. It's just that we haven't talked about it, and I'm used to it, but it will be different for you. With any luck at all, they'll leave us entirely alone."

"Sure no worries" assured Kurt.

"Ok – gotta run Eastcoast. More meetings…. But I'll see you in a couple of days! Wow I can't believe it – you're going to be here in two days!"

"Yep – two days and one Kurt Hummel will be in the City of Angels. I can't wait Westcoast! Have a great night… day… whatever it is for you, and I'll text you the play by play when I leave here"

"Ok. – 2 more sleeps!"

And with that, the call ended.

Kurt looked down at his phone with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait to see Blaine again. He had thought of little else. The fact that they really hadn't fooled around yet was a little distracting, but the lead up was exhilarating.

Fuck, he had forgotten to ask Blaine...again…

He thumbed open his message box and touched on Blaine's name bring up the text bubble and typed:

KURT:

OK kinda awkward but if u haven't already pls get tested

BLAINE

How very esp of u

Did last week results today – clean

KURT

:)

BLAINE

What about u?

KURT

Seriously?

BLAINE

Yeah ok. Forget I said that

KURT

Forgotten. cu in 2 WC

BLAINE

xo EC

It was a picture perfect day in LA when Kurt's plane touched down. The sky was clear, the sun was shining and it was a balmy 75 degrees. Kurt had never been west of Ohio, so he was just about bursting at the seams while he waited patiently for the passengers in front of him to exit the plane.

He quickly sent Blaine a text

KURT

Just landed. Getting off plane now

BLAINE

Yay! I'm here too...dodging paps :(

KURT

No :( allowed today

Only :)

BLAINE

Gotcha

BLAINE

:) :) :) :) :)

_Dork!_ Kurt thought to himself, smiling at his phone.

Finally everyone started moving and he was off the plane and walking quickly up the ramp to get to the gate. Once through, it was easy enough to follow the signs down to the baggage claim area where Blaine was waiting for him.

There were a few people waiting for arriving passengers, so Kurt didn't see Blaine right away. He didn't see him because Blaine was in very non-Blaine clothing, with a beanie on his head and dark glasses on. But he was holding up a sign saying "Eastcoast" like he was a driver waiting for a fare.

Kurt ran up to him and literally threw himself into his arms so hard that Blaine started falling back a bit. Laughing, he found his ground and grabbed a hold of Kurt, dropping the sign, and pulled him in so tight that both were finding it hard to breathe. Eventually they broke away enough so they could look at each other in the eyes.

"Hi" Blaine said with the biggest grin on his face.

Equally giddy, Kurt greeted him back with a "Hi" and a chaste but meaningful kiss on the lips.

"Hmmm…" Blaine smacked his lips. "You taste like cherry. How very Katy Perry of you" he teased.

"Well, we are in California, so when in Rome….." Kurt retorted kissing him again quickly, turning around to see that the luggage was coming down the chute. They went looking for Kurt's luggage "As long as you aren't going to kiss a girl." Blaine grumbled pulling Kurt's very large suitcase off the carousel, causing Kurt to slap him on the ass playfully.

They managed to get themselves and Kurt's luggage to Blaine's car without being noticed and were cruising down the freeway heading to Blaine's house in West Hollywood. Traffic was light and it would only take about 20 minutes or so to get there.

Kurt was staring out the window with a huge smile on his face. Palm trees! He had never seen them in real life. _They are magnificent_ he thought. And it was so warm out. It had been sunny in New York when he left but still cold. It wouldn't warm up there significantly for a couple of more months.

"So, interesting text you sent me the other day" Blaine said, breaking Kurt's thoughts, as he looked over to his right to change lanes. Seeking Kurt's hand in the middle of the console, he continued "Want to tell me what brought that on?"

"You mean about being tested?"

When Blaine nodded, Kurt explained with a shrug "I just thought that it would be the right thing to do. Clean slate and all. I don't want to worry about anything we might do, or the consequences if either of us had anything unexpected." What he didn't say was that 'by either of us' he really meant Blaine.

"What exactly do you plan on us doing Kurt?" Blaine asked shifting his body a bit in his seat to accommodate the hard on he was starting to get. "Because I might need to remind you that I've been celibate since we last met, and whatever we end up doing, I'm probably not going to last long. At least not initially… just so you know…"

"Oh, you'll just have to wait to find out" teased Kurt acting nonchalant, but hiding a smile towards the window.

Blaine groaned….. "Kurt, remember when I said it would take me about 10 minutes to get up after you land? Well consider it fait accompli."

"Aw...poor baby…patience my dear." Kurt continued to tease "All in good time" as he reached over to rub Blaine's thigh.

Blaine groaned again. "The word patience does not exist in my vocabulary Kurt. Be prepared for full assault when we get to my place."

"Yeah…yeah…Promises…promises. You're not the only one who's been celibate Blaine... big expectations" Kurt warned him with a smirk.

Blaine's house was adorable; very Blaine. It was in the hills, but not too high up. It was modest by Hollywood standards, but everything that Blaine could want and need. He, by no means, considered himself rich. In fact, even with his success and awards, the truth of the matter was that he didn't really make a lot of money. He had a recording contract which paid him, and he collected royalties from the songs that he wrote, but the days were gone where an artist made money from album sales. The internet and music downloading had pretty much killed that. The real money would come from further song royalties and ticket and merchandise sales once he started touring.

In the meantime he lived comfortably in this beautiful 1920's Spanish stucco house that he bought with his signing bonus. It had all the original tile work throughout and oozed charm. Kurt fell in love with it immediately. There was a lovely private backyard complete with a fountain and a pond populated with koi. Blaine had a gardener come in every week and as a result, he had neatly manicured lawns complete with flower beds and bird houses and feeders. It was quintessential California.

After putting his clothes away and storing the suitcases in the garage, they sat down at the patio table in the yard both with a tall glass of lemonade that Blaine had made the night before to enjoy in the sunshine. All earlier threats seemingly forgotten or deferred – Kurt wasn't sure which.

"My God. I can see why you live here Blaine" Kurt exclaimed after taking a long sip of his cold drink. "It was still freezing cold in New York when I left, and now I'm sitting outside in a t-shirt with my sunglasses on, sipping a cold drink. I'll be damned."

"I know. Truth of the matter is I don't think I could ever leave here now" Blaine shared. "It took me a while to get used to it. The smog can be awful and don't even get me started on the traffic" holding his hands up in surrender "but even with all that, I love it here. It's my home now" he professed to Kurt with a small smile.

"I get it Blaine. I really do. If you had asked me yesterday if I would ever live anywhere but New York City, I'd have said no way. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Really Kurt?" Blaine asked quickly, "Would you ever consider leaving New York?

He had to ask. He felt like Kurt was extending a life line and he had to grab on to it.

"I'm not sure I would leave New York just because of the weather" Kurt mulled…. "But, yeah, I think I'd consider leaving if it meant being in the right place with the right person. Whether that's in LA or somewhere else, I don't feel any longer that my happiness depends on being in New York. I just ended up there and decided not to leave."

Blaine put his drink down, and went over to Kurt, straddling his chair so that he was sitting in the boy's lap; he took Kurt's sunglasses off and put his drink down. Wrapping his arms around Kurt's neck, he lowered his head down, and first started kissing his forehead, then temples, then down to his cheeks…. the tip of his nose, and finally his lips. He spent some time on his lips. When he finally withdrew, he whispered to Kurt "I sure hope that you're in the right place now Kurt… and maybe then I'll be the right person. I am so glad you're here."

Kurt answered him by wrapping his arms around him, pulling him so he could reach his mouth. "Stop talking and start kissing Westcoast" he said before slipping his tongue into Blaine's mouth. "You have some idle threats to make good on."

They made their way back into the house, not wanting to give the neighbors a show, stopping every few feet to continue their mutual assault on each other's mouths and necks, going from 0 to 60 in record time.

As soon as they were inside, Blaine backed Kurt up on a wall forcing his legs open with his own and pushing his thigh on Kurt so he could gain friction, rutting hard against Kurt's leg. "Fuck Kurt, I'm telling you now, I am not going to last" he growled into Kurt's neck and sucking on his earlobes. Desperate to make contact with any skin that he could find, he pulled Kurt's shirt up, running his hands up the boy's chest and around his back causing Kurt to groan loudly and return his thrusts.

"I don't care" Kurt hissed, biting Blaine's shoulder, grabbing on to his hips and roughly pulling Blaine in more until their cocks were flush with each other. "I just need to feel you now" reaching around and gripping Blaine's ass to hold him hostage.

They both knew they weren't going to make it any further into the house. All the old familiar gestures and motions were bubbling up to the surface now. Neither had any control over what their bodies were demanding.

"Fuck you feel so good" Blaine mouthed , grinding his dick against Kurt's as hard as he could, panting heavily as he felt the heat coiling and his balls retracting knowing that he was close to orgasm. "I'm gonna come Kurt…. fuck" he warned, thrusting hard one last time before giving in to the release, shooting cum into his pants.

Growling loudly, Kurt grabbed Blaine and whipped him around so that he was now against the wall, and Kurt started fucking into him desperately, "Fuck, you're so hot when you come" Kurt panted into Blaine's mouth, unable to do anything now but continue to rut until he feels himself coming too, dropping his head on Blaine's shoulder as he spilled out into his own briefs.

They both end up sliding down the wall, landing on the floor, breaking away briefly to catch their breath and cool down. Blaine's the first to recover and slides over to Kurt to languish him with deep soft kisses, the urgency gone, and only tenderness remaining.

"That, Kurt Hummel, was a long time coming and fucking amazing!" he declared resting his head on Kurt's shoulder.

"That's definitely one word to describe it. Hot, incredible, mind-blowing, quick... all those words come to mind as well" Kurt conceded, kissing Blaine "But as amazing and hot and incredible and mind-blowing and quick as it was, I am starting to feel really gross" shifting his softening dick through his pants, "and in deep need of a shower. Care to join me?" he asked Blaine tilting his head to one side.

Blaine stood up, shifting himself in his pants as well, holding his hands out for Kurt to grab onto, to pull the boy up, "Lead the way, oh Master."

"Lead the way? Whose house _is_ this?" Kurt wisecracked, squealing as Blaine tried to slap him on the ass.

"Mine for now, but that's up for negotiation any time you want." Blaine quipped back as they headed into the bathroom to shower.

They spent the next few days being typical tourists, Blaine taking Kurt around to all the different sites.

They checked out Hollywood Boulevard, which Kurt decided was definitely sketchy and would never need to go back again "Unless of course we went to a show at The Pantages" he advised Blaine.

They walked through the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which Kurt found fascinating, equally intrigued to hear that they showed outdoor movies there in the summer and a slasher one at Halloween "I'll go to one as long as it doesn't have vampires in it."

They went shopping at The Grove which got his seal of approval "I mean… come on… Cheesecake Factory? Seriously?"

They hiked Runyon Canyon, which Kurt liked "But really Blaine, you need a dog to truly do this right."

They went to Beverley Hills and window shopped on Rodeo Drive, and if anyone had asked Blaine, he would have secretly admitted that he could see Kurt living in Beverley Hills. It was definitely his style.

They checked out a farmers market in Brentwood and spent a day at the beach in Santa Monica, where Kurt initially raced out to run into the ocean, only to scream and head right back out as the cold water hit his legs. They rented bikes and rode down the bike path to Venice Beach for some hard core people watching, both deciding that the muscle men were seriously entertaining.

In short, they were having an amazing time together, each falling back in love with the other, but neither ready to share their feelings in words.

It was driving home that day from Santa Monica that Kurt has his epiphany. They were heading down the Boulevard; Blaine was driving with his window down and the wind blowing his hair. His sunglasses were on and he was singing, keeping beat to the music on the steering wheel, and Kurt saw it.

Blaine was happy…. Like really happy. He had NEVER seen Blaine this happy….. ever… and it wasn't just because Kurt was there, although he'd have liked to think he had something to do with it. It was because this was where Blaine needed to be. This city – this life – he was born to live here. Ohio had stifled him. New York would have swallowed him up. Los Angeles however, let Blaine breathe. It sparked his creativity and allowed him to be the artist that he always wanted to be. Kurt just sat there staring at him, watching it all play out in front of him. Blaine finally catching on that something was up asked him why he was staring.

"Because I just had this huge epiphany that you belong here, Blaine" Blaine looked over at him blankly.

"Really – this is where you need to be." he elaborated "Don't let anyone ever try and talk you out of living here Blaine. It makes you happy to be here. You are happy."

Blaine tried to look at him a few times in between watching the road, taking in what Kurt was saying.

"Don't get me wrong Kurt. I do love it here. But honestly? Before I found you again, I wasn't very happy. This town can be incredibly toxic and it was really getting to me right before I went to New York for the Gala. I'm happy now because you're back in my life. That's what is making me happy" he said looking at him now that he had stopped at a red light. "You Kurt make me happy. _You_ make me deliriously happy!"

Light turning green, he looked back to the road as they continued their drive home. Kurt went back to looking out the window, wondering to himself how he was ever going to leave Blaine and go back to New York.


	7. Chapter 7 The Sex

**A/N** This is the last post I'll be able to make until next week as I'll be away. Wishing everyone happy holidays in whatever way you celebrate the season. Looking forward to more fics in 2013.

I'd also like to thank Aryaarsay who's been my beta since chapter one. It's amazing how the addition or deletion of a word here and there can make such a difference. so thank you! I really appreciate all you've done for my story.

And here it is... the sexy times... hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it...naughty boys ;)

0000000000000000000000000000 

On day 3 of Kurt's visit, they went into the recording studio so Blaine could record some vocal tracks to the new songs he was recording. Kurt met everyone that Blaine was working with; both of them a little nervous and awkward as Blaine didn't know how to introduce Kurt. Should he call him his boyfriend? While Blaine was already thinking in those terms, they hadn't had that conversation yet and he didn't want to assume anything.

He compromised and introduced him as his close friend, but made sure there was enough handholding, winking and stolen kisses to give everyone a clear picture, and Kurt loved it. It was as if Blaine was claiming him in front of his colleagues and it was a complete turn-on.

Everyone at the studio seemed intrigued with the relationship and genuinely happy for the two of them, telling Kurt that they hoped to see him again soon.

After that they met with David at Café Gratitude in WeHo for some lunch. David balked at the healthiness of the vegan menu, but once they were served and he started eating, he had to admit how good the food was. Kurt wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't end up going there a lot more often.

It became second nature that wherever Kurt and Blaine were, they were either holding hands, or touching each other with some part of their body. They couldn't be separated – they needed to have some type of physical connection at all times. After lunch, they hit Whole Foods to do some shopping and arrived home with a couple of bags of groceries and a couple of bottles of wine, the second of which was now being consumed.

They were sitting on Blaine's sofa after finishing a light pasta dish for dinner, deciding to have a night in and cuddle up to the TV so Kurt could watch the Long Island Medium show that he was completely addicted to. Blaine not being into the show as much, spent the time massaging and kissing Kurt's shoulders, and arms and hands. When the show ended, Kurt turned the TV off, and transferred his full attention to Blaine to reciprocate. Slowly they started losing clothing. The shirts were the first to go. With their upper bodies bare, both took time to really look and appreciate one another, noting the obvious changes to their physiques from six years ago.

Blaine's chest had been more developed than Kurt's when they were teens. He was still muscular but now he had more hair. He kept it neatly trimmed and it went from his chest, down to his groin via the happy trail. Kurt found it incredibly sexy.

Kurt on the other hand, had filled out substantially, gaining muscle definition that Blaine had never seen on him. And while he too had developed hair on his chest, he preferred the smooth look and had his chest waxed regularly. The result was beautiful milky skin over defined muscles and abs. Blaine got hard just looking at him.

"Are you ok?" Kurt asked with a little bit of concern in his eyes, noticing that Blaine had gotten very quiet.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely fine. I just had a moment" Blaine answered with a small smile. "This whole week has been fabulous so far, and now we're here and I'm blown away all over again by you. I just need to take it all in."

He inhaled deeply. He found his hands moving on to Kurt's legs, rubbing up and down, getting one hand up under his pant leg at the ankle to stroke his bare calf.

All the while they were pulling in closer to each other until their lips were inches apart.

"Tell me Mr. Hummel." Blaine breathes into Kurt's mouth "What do you do with your men once their shirts are off?"

"At this point, I find it's always more comfortable in the other room" Kurt nods over to the direction of the bedroom.

Blaine quickly stands up, hauling Kurt up with him and pulls him so that their chests are touching, "I like that idea. I like it very much."

Kurt tugs his hand and together they walk to the bedroom, stealing glances at each other. Stopping at the doorway, Blaine pulls Kurt in for a kiss. He can't take it any longer. His lips are aching for Kurt's. It starts soft, but quickly deepens as each move their head slightly. Blaine feels Kurt's tongue on his bottom lip, swiping gently and waiting for Blaine to allow entry. He opens his mouth slightly and Kurt slides his tongue in immediately finding Blaine's. Blaine whimpers as Kurt continues his exploration, leaving nothing untouched. Tongue fucking each other, they move quickly into the room and drop on the bed together, Kurt quickly gaining dominance by flipping Blaine underneath him, pinning him head to toe with his body. Even if Blaine wanted to move, he couldn't.

But this is what Blaine wants. This is what he needs. He needs the weight of Kurt on his body to keep him from floating away. He could spend a lifetime under this man.

They are both hard, grinding against one another through their pants, desperate for contact. Kurt continues his assault on Blaine, as he starts mouthing his neck, biting and marking and murmuring "Fuck Blaine, you taste so good. Love this part of your neck. Just want to lick your body all over. I need to taste you."

"Fuck Kurt. Do it. Whatever you want, do it" Blaine offers placing his hands over his head, grabbing hold of the headboard rails. "This is all I want out of life right now. Take whatever you want. Fuck... I'm all yours"

Kurt lets out a loud groan as he fumbles at Blaine's pants, quickly undoing the button and zipper. He sits up to pull them off and is able to really look at Blaine for the first time since they started making out. Blaine's wrecked. His hair has unleashed curls framing his face. His eyes are black, his mouth is swollen red and luscious; a sheen of sweat covers his chest. Biceps flexing as he holds the rails, he gazes wantonly as Kurt strips him, jeans and briefs coming off together. Blaine is naked; his cock hard and laying up on his torso, beautiful; waiting to be licked.

Kurt quickly stands up and hastily shreds the rest of his clothes off, re-joining Blaine on the bed, lying on top of him, both able to now feel the others hardness; skin on skin. It's like time has stopped for them. The drag of their cocks is so familiar, it makes them both ache.

With deep moans and gasps, Blaine arches into Kurt, keeping his hands over his head.

Finding Kurt' ear, he licks into it and around it. Lathing Kurt's neck with his tongue and mouthing open kisses to wherever he could reach. Reaching his ear again, Blaine whispers "Fuck me Kurt."

And those little three words set Kurt off. He grabs Blaine's face crashing their lips together, thrusting his tongue deep into his mouth, needing to taste him. Needing to smother him with his body and invade every crevice. His senses are on overload. He runs his tongue down Blaine's neck, biting and marking; sliding further down, he sucks on his nipples, taking his time, until they are tender and hard, and he can hear Blaine whimper. He slowly makes his way down Blaine's torso, where the chest hair starts to make way for thicker coarser hair. He mouths down to his groin, and now the scent is taking over his senses. This is by far the best part; the fucking smell of Blaine. Kurt can't get enough of it. He licks and kisses and sucks and smothers his face into Blaine's balls breathing in deep. It is an indescribable scent that drives Kurt mad. Many nights he has woken up from vivid dreams of sex with Blaine and for those few seconds after waking he can smell him. It's ingrained in his subconscious. But it always fades after those initial seconds. But now, here he is; his for the taking; his for the keeping. And Blaine is thrashing now; moaning, trying desperately to get friction for his throbbing dick.

A sound escapes Kurt's mouth that is almost feral. He moves up to Blaine's cock, lathing up and down his shaft, covering it with spit until he finally devours him, taking him all the way in his mouth until he hits the back of his throat, causing him to gag and Blaine to gasp, grabbing on to Kurt's head to keep him there. Kurt doesn't care that he's gagging. He just needs to have Blaine's dick as deep in his mouth as he can and so he keeps going, spit dripping down his chin. Blaine is moaning like a fucking dog in heat. He's fucking Kurt's mouth, going deeper and deeper. Kurt's nose is nestled right in Blaine's pubic hair where the scent is the strongest; it's edging Kurt on and making him fucking crazy with want. He spreads Blaine's legs open and moves his shoulder over to keep him open. Keeping one hand at the base of Blaine's cock he uses the other to fondle his balls, rolling them and tugging them, eliciting "holy fuck Kurt" from Blaine over and over again. His mouth is still deepthroating as he frees his hand from the base of Blaine's cock and moves it behind his balls. Blaine knows instinctively what he's going to do next and bucks up into Kurt's mouth in desperate anticipation. Kurt's gagging again because he can't hold Blaine down, so he drops his shoulder more onto Blaine's inner thigh in an attempt to hold him and in doing so spreads him even wider. It's easy to get there now, and Kurt has to taste him. He releases Blaine's cock noisily as it falls flush back onto his torso, with Blaine moaning at the loss, and moves down, mouthing Blaine's balls. Taking turns with each – rolling them in his mouth – sucking them - tasting them – smelling them. Once he's had his fill, he grabs both Blaine's upper thighs with his hands spreading him wide open, lifting and bending his legs so his knees are on the bed parallel to his chest and starts licking from the base of his balls down to his hole and up his crack. He keeps doing this, spit pouring out of his mouth; he's watering so much from the scent. He dips his tongue in Blaine's hole, and holy fuck. This is it. Whatever self-control he had is now officially gone and he's going in for the kill. Tonguing and licking and mouthing and spitting and fingers opening the hole wider so he could get his tongue further in, and the taste; the fucking taste is going to take him to hell. He can't get enough. He's vaguely aware now that Blaine is writhing, bathed in sweat, babbling words like "fuck" and "Kurt" and "I gotta come" and "fuck me Kurt" and "let me come" and "holy shit Kurt" and "fuck fuck fuck" and Kurt knows that Blaine's almost done, too far gone to be fucked in the ass, so with one hand he find Blaine's cock and starts fisting fast. "Harder Kurt!" Blaine pleads. Kurt strokes harder and Blaine is thrashing and Kurt's mouth is still at his hole probing and licking, and with a shout Blaine comes; hot streaks of cum shooting across Blaine's chest until finally it ebbs out into Kurt's hand. He strokes Blaine through his release, still licking his hole, but slower now and less intense. Once the aftershocks have ceased and he's certain Blaine's finished, he lets go of his cock, moving so Blaine can stretch his legs down as Kurt straddles him. Slowly he works his way up Blaine's chest, gathering cum in his mouth. He's holding it there – not swallowing. He knows what he wants to do with it. Once he's got as much as he can hold, he sits on Blaine's chest and hovers over his face where Blaine is ready for him with his mouth wide open. While stroking his own neglected cock, Kurt lets the cum run out of his mouth and into Blaine's. Blaine holds it. Kurt lowers his head down and kisses him open mouthed and the cum is pushed back into Kurt's mouth by Blaine's tongue. They do this back and forth a few times until Blaine finds Kurt's cock, taking over and stroking him, edging him on for an orgasm. Kurt can feel it building as his swirls Blaine's cum in his mouth before swallowing, relishing the taste. He loves Blaine's cum. Blaine is still fisting him, finding more of his own cum on his torso and using it as lube, causing Kurt to fuck into Blaine's hand until he feels his orgasm hit. He takes over from Blaine, stroking hard and panting heavily he aims his cock at Blaine's face. Blaine coaxes him "Come for me now Kurt. Come on my face. You're so fucking beautiful Kurt. You're so fucking hot like this" .That's all Kurt needs to hear as he yells out, shooting spunk onto Blaine's face and into his mouth. All Kurt can hear is white noise as he pushes through his orgasm, jerking with the aftershocks. It takes a while for all the come to release but once he's done, Blaine swallows what he has and then lifts up to suck the rest out of Kurt's softening dick. Satisfied that he's got it all, he releases him and drops his head back on the bed. Kurt lowers down again and licks Blaine's face clean. When he's done he too drops full force on the bed beside Blaine, with one leg landing over his legs and one arm across his chest; his head on Blaine's shoulder. They stay still, spent, catching their breath and letting their heart rates go back to normal.

"I'm sorry. When you said 'Fuck me Kurt', did you mean penetrative?" Kurt asks sarcastically with a smile in his voice.

Blaine snorts out a laugh rubbing his face with his free hand, "Whatever I meant in the heat of the moment Kurt, you're not going to get any flack from me. That was undeniably the hottest fuck I've had in a very long time."

"Define very long time" Kurt asks coyly looking up at Blaine. "Would you say six years long?"

"Yeah, I'd say that time frame is pretty accurate." Blaine responds softly while absentmindedly skimming the back of his hand on Kurt's cheek

Kurt sighs and pulls Blaine in for a squeeze.

After a few minutes, Blaine shifts on to his side so he can face Kurt and Kurt does the same. They're content just to gaze at each other as they find hands to hold on to, and slowly they move their heads forward to kiss. Lazy full kisses until both end up falling asleep with their soft lips pressed together.


	8. Chapter 8 The Foundation

**A/N Happy New Year's Eve everyone! Hope you have a safe and happy new year. **

The day before Kurt is due to fly back to New York, they finally make it into the head office for the Foundation. While most of the work is done on an outreach basis through schools and community centres, they still have a sizeable headquarter where all the administrative work is done and the board meetings are held. It's a converted schoolhouse and so there are a lot of rooms available to house the various programs that they offer in Los Angeles. There are choir rooms dedicated to glee clubs and others for the music therapy sessions and LGBT get-togethers. Attached to the main building is a small theatre where performances are often held.

Once again Blaine and Kurt find themselves walking down school corridors holding hands. Throughout the hallways is the motif of the blackbird, along with inspirational sayings painted on the walls.

Blaine is going to introduce Kurt to the staff and then he has a short board meeting to attend. Kurt has assured him that he's happy to wait, content to just walk around and check the place out.

Kurt follows Blaine in to his office, which immediately he sees is home to all his awards and trophies. He had noticed the lack of such at his house, and just figured he was being modest and didn't want them displayed for whatever reason.

Blaine watched him look through the glass casing and explained "I thought they would be better served to be here. This way the kids can see them and perhaps draw some inspiration from them; better than sitting at my house collecting dust."

Kurt walked over and gave him a kiss. "I think it's a fantastic idea. I was wondering where they were. Look, you even have your Warbler trophies here" he said with delight going back for closer inspection.

"Yup and come over here" Blaine gently pulled him over past the trophies and there lined on the wall were photographs. Recent pictures of Blaine with different musicians and celebrities, some Kurt recognized and some he didn't. There was one of him holding up his Grammy looking like he had just won the World Series. And there were others that Blaine was pointing to. There, on the wall, were pictures of the two of them together; lots of them. Some were from their Dalton days with the uniforms on; at performances and just goofing around at the school with the Warblers. And others were pictures of them at McKinley; when they won Sectionals, and Regionals, and Nationals. There were pictures of them in the music room jamming it up, the group cast photo from Westside Story, and another photo of them leaning up against Kurt's locker happily grinning into the camera.

They were all there – adorning Blaine's wall where he could see from sitting at his desk.

"You see Kurt" Blaine explains softly. "You might not have been here for the actual creation of the Foundation, but you've always been a part of it. You've been up on this wall since day one, and we've just all been waiting for you to get here to see it. I've been waiting for you to get here."

All these years and Kurt had no idea.

"Blaine" Kurt said, finally looking back at him.

Blaine stood there, looking so vulnerable; with tears in his eyes that were threatening to start running down his cheek. He stepped up and took Kurt's hand, "Kurt I know we haven't spoken for years, and for all you knew, I had moved on. But I'm telling you now, I didn't. I haven't." Taking a deep breath he continued with a shaky voice "Remember that day at Dalton when I told you I'd been looking for you forever?" Kurt nodded slowly, tears now filling his eyes too. "Well, I found you Kurt. I found you all those years ago, and then I lost you. And now, I just want you back. I love you Kurt. You're still the love of my life. You will _always_ be the love of my life. I'll never love anyone else. It's you Kurt – only you. And I want you back." The tears now running down his face, Blaine brings Kurt's hands up to his mouth to kiss softly.

And it takes Kurt no time at all to respond, "I love you too Blaine. I love you so much it hurts. I never stopped loving you and I never will. You are the love of my life too" he is finally able to proclaim after all these years, pulling Blaine in for a kiss; a tender kiss full of passion, longing and hope for the future.

After a couple of minutes in embrace, Blaine pulls away slightly rubbing his face with his hands. "Whoa, I have to be in a board meeting in about…..10 minutes" checking his watch with a bashful laugh, looking around the office for some Kleenex.

"Here, you" Kurt pulls a hankie from his jacket pocket and dabs away all traces of tears from Blaine's face. "It's entirely your fault for being such a sentimental romantic fool!" he jests smoothing out his hair while he's at it.

"What can I say? My timing is always the shits" he says with a smile and gathers Kurt in another big hug that has him gasping for air. "Whoa – ok tiger. Let me go!" shimmying out of his grasp "You have an important meeting to attend and I have classrooms to snoop in and then we have some serious talking to do. So let's get a move on." dragging Blaine out of his office, but before opening the door, giving him one more private kiss. "I do love you… so much" he reaffirms.

"I love you too" Blaine says tenderly "You make me so happy Kurt. I am so happy"

With that they part, and Blaine walks in to his board meeting with the biggest smile any one has ever seen on his face.

A few hours later, they're at one of Blaine's favorite restaurants overlooking the ocean sharing some wine and tapas. Blaine's board meeting turned out to take a lot longer than he had expected, but it just gave Kurt the opportunity to check out the Foundation in more detail.

He had found a group of glee kids practicing for a performance, and happily sat in and listened to for a while, giving them a few pointers. There were also some music classes going on and a group session with some LGBT kids was just starting up. He introduced himself and asked the counselor if he could observe, and with the consent of the attendees he sat and listened as they shared with one another what was going on in their lives and at their schools. Some were having issues not unlike what Kurt had experienced and others were a bit more fortunate and able to offer up some possible solutions. Kurt sensed there was a real camaraderie between them and again he was taken aback at the scope of the programs being offered; at the opportunities it had allowed for all these kids, and hundreds if not thousands more across the country.

He was sharing this all now with Blaine over wine, as Blaine sat quietly looking adoringly at Kurt as he expressed all these emotions.

He swirled the wine in his glass before taking a sip and looking up at Kurt "So, would this be something that you could possibly see being a part of in your future Kurt?"

"Yes, for sure. I want to get it started at my school as soon as I get back" Kurt didn't hesitate. "I can think of a dozen kids where this is really going to positively impact their lives."

Blaine looked back down at his wine, with a slight shake of his head. Looking back up apprehensively, he furthered "As great as that is, and it is great Kurt, I was more thinking along the lines of you possibly becoming a more active part of the Foundation….here… in LA… with me" he elaborated.

"You want me to move to LA?" Kurt asked incredulously.

"Well, yes…yeah. That's what I see happening Kurt. I want you to consider moving out here. I love you and I want us to be together. But life for me right now is here. You said it yourself. It's where I need to be." He took Kurt's hand, running circles in his palms. "You could move here…live with me" he offered giving him the puppy dog eyes.

Kurt continued to look at Blaine. Could he do this - so quickly? They had just declared their undying love to each other after only a month of reconnection, and now Blaine was asking him to leave everything he knew – uproot himself and move to LA to be with him.

"I… I need some time to think about it" he admitted to Blaine, who was trying his best to not look devastated. "I just can't make this big of a decision so quickly. Blaine, everything has happened so quickly. I need to figure it all out. I have my job to think about. I have to talk to my Dad – he doesn't even know about us yet. I have to talk to Rachel. Oh my god – Rachel! I could be making her homeless" he exclaimed in horror of the thought.

"Ok…ok Kurt. I get it. It's ok – calm down" Blaine soothed. "I'm just excited for us and want to jump back into life with you, but of course, you have a lot to consider. I will tell you that you were discussed at the board meeting today, and if you should decide to move here, there's a place for you at the Foundation. In whatever capacity you choose, although I personally would hate to see you in administration. I think you should always be up at the forefront with the kids. But it would be your choice. It was a unanimous vote of approval" Blaine confirmed.

Kurt sat back in his chair. So many thoughts were racing through his head – too many thoughts. He needed some time to think and he needed some space. He'd enjoy the rest of the evening – it's his last one before going home. They'll figure this all out one way or another.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

"Ahhh…yes, Kurt…fuck... yeah ...there…right there…hhhmmm… don't stop" Blaine was babbling as Kurt gently sucked on his neck, concentrating on the spot that drove Blaine crazy. They were back in Blaine's bed – their last night to share together before Kurt left for New York. Neither of them wanted the night to end.

Sucking on his neck, Kurt's positive that he's marking him, and not caring. He was leaving and he needed to know that Blaine would be walking around for a least a couple of days with his marks on him. "Blaine" Kurt murmured. "Tell me what you want. I'll do anything baby. Just tell me what you need."

Blaine moved his head back to look into Kurt's eyes; the perfect color of blue. The eyes that he had so desperately sought after….he had finally found them again. There would be no substitutes in his bed ever again. Even if Kurt didn't move to LA, he'd find a way – they'd find a way to be together. This was it for him. No one else…not ever…

"I want to bottom Kurt. I've never bottomed for anyone but you. It was the only thing that I could keep that was just us. So yeah, that's what I want." he decided. "And just so we're perfectly clear, yes I want to be fucked in the ass" he added sassily in reference to their last epic session of sex.

Kurt chuckled at the reference, but was more in awe of his confession. He leaned up on one elbow "You mean to tell me that with all the men you've had sex with in the last six years, you've _never_ bottomed since us? Not once?"

"Nope" Blaine shook his head "not once. Only you"

"I think I love you even more right now if that is even possible" Kurt declared climbing on top of Blaine, covering him with kisses. "Sweetheart, you are so getting your ass fucked tonight."

Blaine moaned, finding Kurt's ass and cupping his cheeks "Just want you to fuck me Kurt" pulling him down even harder hooking his legs around his calves. "Hmmmm…keep doing that…feels so good"

"How do you want it baby?" Kurt murmured licking and nipping his left nipple, while massaging the right one with his thumb.

"Like this... want to be able to see you and kiss you"

"Ok" Kurt agreed reaching over for the lube and condoms on the night-table.

"No condom." Blaine said adamantly "We don't need it. Want to feel everything. Need to still have you in me tomorrow when you leave."

"Are you sure Blaine?" Kurt faltered.

"I'm positive Kurt. We've been tested – we're clean...no condom." he insists and throws them out of reach just to be sure.

"Ok, as long as you're sure sweetheart. I'd love nothing better."

Blaine nods as Kurt pops the lube bottle open and pours a bit on his fingers. Blaine lifts up and puts a pillow under his ass for a better position, spreading his legs open to give Kurt easy access. Kurt puts the bottle down and moves in between Blaine's legs.

_"God I love this man"_ Kurt thought as he lowers himself down to kiss Blaine deeply.

Tonight is all about love. There's no rush. There's no urgency. It's just the two of them connecting one last time before they part ways. Kurt slowly inserts one finger inside Blaine, giving him time to adjust. And when Blaine nods, he inserts another, causing Blaine to whimper softly. Not from pain, but from the pleasure he's getting when feeling Kurt inside him. It's been so long, it's just a distant memory. Kurt knows he has to go slow, but he's finding it difficult. He's hard now and dying to fuck him, but he knows Blaine needs more stretching. So he puts more lube on his fingers and this time inserts three, stretching them out as much as he can. Blaine is writhing with this. Three feels so full but the stretch is fantastic. He starts pushing into it, wanting more, needing more. Kurt searches and finds his prostate causing Blaine to yell out "Fuck Kurt" as he pumps up into Kurt's hand now while his engorged dick bounces on his torso, ignored for the most part.

"Kurt I'm ready. I need you in me… now" he commands looking up at him with blown eyes and curls everywhere. Kurt takes his fingers out, quickly finding the lube again, covering his cock while he pumps it a few times. All the while Blaine is watching and waiting. When he sees that Kurt is ready he brings his hands to his knees – pulling them up, opening himself wider for Kurt to gain entrance.

Kurt positions himself and slowly starts pushing in. He's holding his breath – shaking like crazy. All he wants to do is bottom out full force, but he knows he has to go slow for Blaine. Blaine has gone still, breathing harshly, willing himself to relax to take in Kurt's girth. After a minute he signals Kurt to continue and slowly Kurt pushes in more until he's balls deep against Blaine's ass. He waits again for Blaine to adjust, panting heavily, getting lost in the heat and magnificent feeling of being in Blaine's ass.

Blaine nods again "Its ok babe. You can move now… please."

And Kurt slowly pulls away, dragging his cock almost all the way out before driving back in again. Blaine lets out a loud groan and wraps his legs around Kurt's thighs, keeping him close. Kurt continues the pace, snapping his hips forward, holding there for a few seconds and repeating; finding his rhythm.

Blaine moans loudly and grabs Kurt's ass to pull him in even further. "Harder Kurt harder" he urges.

Sweat drips off Kurt's face as he fucks harder and faster into Blaine, trying to control himself, but rapidly losing it. Blaine has locked him with his legs and isn't letting go. He's babbling and Kurt knows he's close to coming, so he grabs on to Blaine's leaking cock and starts pumping him to orgasm. It doesn't take long. After five good strokes, Blaine yells out as he comes; this time it lands everywhere. Kurt's unable to control himself when he feels Blaine come, and three strokes later, he's coming too, filling Blaine up. Riding through his orgasm, he slowly comes to a stop and lowers himself down. Blaine holds Kurt in his arms until he needs him to move so he can breathe, gently rolling him off, feeling the loss when Kurt's cock slides out. They lay side by side running their hands along the other's body as the sweat evaporates and their breathing returns to normal.

Then Blaine climbs on top of Kurt – covering him fully, and kisses him deeply murmuring "Thank you Kurt. Love you…love you so much. Please hold me. Hold me tight."

Kurt wraps himself around him as best he can as he feels Blaine's breathing even out and slow down and Kurt realizes he's fallen asleep in his hold. And the night slowly takes Kurt away too.


	9. Chapter 9 The Distance

Saying goodbye to each other was heart wrenching in a way that it had never been before. Back when Kurt originally left Lima for New York, the initial separation had been hard because they had never been apart before and didn't know how to deal with the void between visits. When they broke up it had been devastating for obvious reasons, knowing that it was a final goodbye and they would most likely not see each other again. Last month hadn't been as difficult because they knew they'd reconnect in LA in a short time. But this time was different. They were in limbo, not knowing where or when they'd see one another again. Kurt not knowing if he really and truly could give up his life as he knew it and move west, and Blaine not knowing how he would survive if Kurt stayed in New York.

There was a lot unsaid, and there was a lot said.

Kurt got the stress induced babbles in the car on their way to LAX. It was amazing how fast he had wrapped himself up in the day to day workings of Blaine's life.

"Remember to tell Mr. Takahashi that I put that special bird feed in the garage" Kurt instructed Blaine who just nodded as he kept driving. Kurt had quickly befriended the little Japanese man who gardened for Blaine, fascinated with the stories of his childhood as he relayed them to Kurt while they both bent over and weeded together.

"And tell him that the one birdhouse over by the pond needs new shingles on its roof." he added, reflecting "I don't think I remembered to tell him…no I'm pretty sure I didn't. And I don't want the birds getting wet in their house."

Blaine continued to nod, a slight smile gracing his face.

"And Blaine – don't forget about the windows at night. You're not used to having them open so you might forget to lock them up." he advised looking at Blaine questioningly.

"Yes, Kurt. I'll remember to lock the windows." This seemed to satisfy Kurt.

Looking reflectively out the window, Kurt sighed and turned his head back to Blaine, saying softly "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be barking orders at you. I'm perfectly aware that you're capable of being on your own and handling the affairs of your household. I'm just wigging out here a bit".

"It's Ok Kurt" Blaine assured him as he pulled the car in to the short-term parking lot. Securing a space, he turned off the engine and reached over for his hand "I understand. It's kind of nice that someone actually cares about me like this" he smiled forlornly. "I know where it's coming from. You don't need to explain or apologize. I'm probably going to lose it the minute you walk through security, so anything you can do or say right now to distract the both of us is perfectly fine with me."

They gathered up his luggage, Blaine not believing how much more Kurt had acquired in such a short period of time and headed to the airline counter where Kurt checked himself and his luggage in and then proceeded to security. This was as far as Blaine could go and they were going to have to say their private good-bye very publicly.

Taking a deep breath, Blaine pulls Kurt in and holds on to him, not saying anything. There are no words to be spoken. Anything he says now would be completely incoherent as his brain's a jumbled mess.

But Kurt has words and speaks gently "Thank you so much Blaine for this amazing time. I love you so much. I'm going to miss you like crazy," kissing his ear.

Blaine still doesn't speak but he's nodding and then slowly parts so he can look Kurt in the eyes, both of them with pools of tears gathering. Finally he whispers "I love you too Kurt…. Always have, always will" with Kurt's hands over his heart.

Another hug and Kurt breaks it off, taking a deep breath, and kisses Blaine once more before turning to head in for the security check. He stops briefly and turns back saying softly "See ya Westcoast. I'll text you when I land" and he's gone.

Blaine watches until he's through and with a final wave he turns and leaves the building. What neither of them had noticed was a nondescript man standing a ways back, taking pictures with a zoom lens. He followed Blaine for a bit, and then changed course as Blaine head for his car.

In New York, Kurt is thrown back into the day to day throes of his job and his life with Rachel. They sat up late that first night with Kurt spilling everything to her over bottles of wine. She laughed with him as he told her about all the fun and silly things they had done and she cried with him when he recollected their professions of love they had finally made to each other at the Foundation. In short, she was the perfect best friend.

Kurt was worried about telling her that Blaine asked him to move out there, afraid she'd freak out about her own future, but she did nothing of the sort. In fact she leapt up and squashed him with a bear hug and told him, in no uncertain terms, that he'd be a fool not to go. That anyone who knew them knew they should be together. That, besides missing Kurt, she'd be fine; either finding another room-mate or live with some of her theatre friends.

It didn't make his mind up. He still had to talk to his Dad and he still needed time to think, but Rachel had been his biggest concern and the fact that he had her seal of approval just made the possibility more real.

The first couple of weeks back dragged by slowly. The cold was getting to Kurt. He missed the warm air of California. He missed the beach. He missed the little birds in the backyard, but mostly he missed Blaine. He missed falling asleep with him and he missed waking up to him. He missed everything about him and the life they had shared for those ten perfect days.

They kept in touch regularly, getting back into the familiar rhythm of email and text messages and on the following Thursday night Blaine called him to talk.

Kurt was just starting his pre-bedtime moisturizing routine, when he phone started to ring. "Hey Westcoast" Kurt answered it with a smile in his voice "How's my favorite person?"

"Your favorite person is doing much better now that he's talking to you." Blaine responded with a soft chuckle. And then sighing he confessed "Actually I'm feeling a bit lonely and sorry for myself right now and I needed to hear your voice."

Kurt doesn't know what about that confession caused the hairs on his arms to rise, but they did. It was hauntingly familiar – the whole situation: Kurt being in New York – Blaine not. Blaine calling him sounding sad and well, just off is the only way he could describe it.

"I know how you feel Blaine… I do. I miss you too" Kurt needed Blaine to know that he wasn't alone with his feelings. "I just need a bit more time to figure this all out – ok - on my own terms?"

"Yeah Kurt I know. I'm just tired and it's been a long day. Was in the studio all day and now I have to go out to some fundraising event tonight for my label, when all I really want to do is crawl into bed with my boyfriend."

"Well that's a little hard to do; with your boyfriend on the other side of the country don't you think?" Kurt snickered.

"Exactly my point Kurt…"

"Oh…ok… sorry… point taken"

"It's ok – like I said, I'm being a baby and feeling sorry for myself. I should have kept it to myself and not bothered you with it. There's no point in both of us being upset" Blaine admitted sighing again.

"No, Blaine. It's good that you told me. Remember what we discussed? If we're going to make it work this time we need 100% communication. No holds barred. Otherwise, we're going to fuck it up again, and there is no way in hell that I am letting that happen" Kurt told him. "Now go take a nice hot shower, and get yourself pretty and go out and have some fun… but not too much fun" he cautioned, with a smirk in his voice.

Blaine laughed lightly, "Ok love. A shower does sound like a good idea and maybe a couple of drinks will help me let go of this tension."

"Yes well" Kurt cautioning again "just a couple Blaine… and keep your hands to yourself."

"Yes Master – I'll be a good boy" Blaine promised with a smirk in his voice now.

"Hmmm…. Well you're always a good boy Blaine" Kurt answered slowly, his voice a clear octave lower, taking the conversation to a different level.

"Fuck Kurt" Blaine groaned…"you're going to be the death of me one day"

"Hopefully that's no day soon. Now go and have fun and I'll talk to you tomorrow. And remember, I love you."

"Love you too Kurt… so much."

And with that the conversation ended and Kurt went to bed thinking how lucky he was and how maybe this was going to turn out well for them after all.

He had no idea what was going to go down the next day.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 

Friday started like any other Friday would. Kurt got up at 6am, did the usual; shower, shave, dress, and left the apartment by 7am calling goodbye to Rachel through her bedroom door. He grabbed a latte at the Starbucks by their building and made his way to the subway station to catch his train to Brooklyn.

On the train and listening to his iPod while people watching, as he always does, he noticed a woman about his age, maybe a bit older. She glanced over at him every so often while she was reading her tablet. Making eye contact he smiled at her. She in turn gave him a quick smile and then, embarrassed, looked back down and never looked up at him again. Kurt didn't think anything of it and exited off at his stop and made his way to the school.

As he walked down the corridor to his office, he said hi to a few students that passed him, smiling but keeping their distance. No one asked how his trip to LA was, which he thought was strange seeing as they were all so vested in it before he left.

He was approached by one student, Chelsey, while he was getting his keys out to his office. He had helped her with her college forms before the break. "Hey Mr. H. I hope you had a great holiday!" she said smiling but shifting her eyes a bit so she wasn't quite looking at him.

"Hi Chelsey. Well as a matter of fact I did. Thanks for asking" he replied smiling back at her.

"Uh… great… Mr. H. Well I gotta go to class. So….yeah…" and she started to move on, and then stopped and quickly leaned to his side "Don't worry – we don't believe any of it is true" and with that she's off, leaving him there in the hallway staring after her, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

Shaking his head he entered his office, closed the door and sat down, already tired from the day. Something was definitely off, but he's not sure what.

Then his phone starts vibrating in his back jeans pocket and he sees a text from Rachel.

RACHEL

Kurt where are u?

KURT

At school?

Where else wud I be?

RACHEL

Can u talk?

KURT

Yes I'm in my office.

What's going on?

His phone starting singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" and Rachel's face is smiling at him. He swipes it to answer.

"Rachel? What's going on? "

"Kurt…. I just wanted to make sure…Kurt" she starts again "There's a story on the internet ... It's about Blaine… and it's got pictures of you… and, well, its not good Kurt" she adds. "I just wanted to make sure you knew."

"A story about me and Blaine?" he repeats, trying to pull his laptop out of his messenger bag as he talks to her.

"Well, not exactly. You're in it but its more about Blaine…. Kurt, did he tell you he was going out last night?" she asks quietly.

The hairs on his arms go up again and he doesn't like the direction this conversation is taking.

"Yeah… He had a fundraiser to go to. He called me. He was all disjointed and sad, and I told him to relax and go out and have a bit of fun" he recalls to her as he's logging in to check out the website.

"Well, it looks like he had some fun Kurt"….she says even quieter… "Look Kurt … I'm sure there's an explanation for it all, and well… just don't jump to conclusions before you get a chance to talk to him ok? Promise?"

"Yeah Rach. I promise" Kurt says as he slumps into his chair, looking at the screen of his computer. A screen filled with pictures of Blaine from last night's event… with another man…they're standing very close to each other, oblivious to the photographer. And there's another one of them leaving the venue holding hands. And another of Blaine getting into a car that Kurt's never seen before, with the man leaning down and into the car in what looks to Kurt to be a kiss, but you can't tell because the picture's too grainy – its too dark.

"Rachel… I have to go" and he ends the call like that. No goodbye, no talk to you later. Just hits the end button and releases the phone to drop on his desk.

He spends the next half hour reading and re-reading the story. Apparently the man he's with is someone semi-famous and was once thought to be a love interest of Blaine's. There's speculation written of what they did in the venue "cozying up to each other at the bar" was one description and "dancing up a storm" was another. Then more innuendo on where they were going when they headed out to the car.

And then there was even more…it proceeded to lay out pictures of Kurt and Blaine from their week together. There were pictures of them at the beach in Santa Monica; another of them at the farmers market, checking out the melons. There was a picture of them sitting at their favorite Starbucks on Santa Monica Blvd. All of these pictures showed them in some form of PDA. They were holding hands, or they had an arm around one another; there was one taken from a distance of them kissing. The last of the pictures were from the airport, when they were saying goodbye. While they stood there, hearts breaking with tears in their eyes, some fucking asshole was taking pictures, turning their most private moments into a public spectacle.

They hadn't named Kurt though. Kurt wasn't sure why. Perhaps they just never found out who he was or didn't care. They insinuated that the "mystery man" had been the reason Blaine had been absent from the usual celebrity parties, and then with last night's event, they further intimated that the mystery man had broken it off and Blaine was out trying to mend his broken heart.

Kurt just sat there, tears welling up in his eyes, clicking through the photos, paying particular attention to the ones from last night. Who was he? Blaine had never gone into detail on anyone that he had dated. There hadn't been a need to. But you could tell from the photographs that there was history between them.

And why hadn't Blaine called him yet?

Suddenly Kurt was angry. He picked up his phone, calling Blaine's number up and hit send, breaking his promise to Rachel.

0000000000000000000000000000 00

Blaine woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating, except it wasn't on his nightstand and he couldn't find it in time to answer. He got up to retrieve the phone from his pant's pocket seeing that it was Kurt who had called. It was only 5AM in LA. Why was Kurt calling so early?

Just as he was going to call him back, it started vibrating again – it was David. _What the fuck? _He answered this time. "Hey David…bad timing. Kurt just called me and I missed it. Can I call you right back?" Blaine asked his friend.

"Kurt called you already?"

"Yeah, he called." Blaine's confused. "What do you mean already? What's going on?"

He hears David sigh "Blaine, there's a story running this morning on the internet. It's about you and last night and there are pictures of you and Gary. Pictures" he adds "that don't show you in a particularly good light my friend. What the fuck did you do last night?"

Blaine suddenly starts to feel lightheaded and sits down on the bed, resting his forehead in his hand.

"I didn't do anything David…. I mean nothing bad?" he offers racking his brain on the evening's events. "I went to that stupid fundraiser, met up with Gary, who I haven't seen in ages, and we just hung out. Danced a bit" he recalls, "talked his ear off about Kurt and stuff, and then we left to grab a coffee" he concludes. "After which he dropped me off here at home….alone….David, what the fuck is going on?" now with worry in his voice.

"Well, as usual, the paps have got pictures of you and Gary, and it looks like you're all over one another, and then there's one of you leaving holding hands, and another that looks like he's leaning into the car kissing you" David tells him.

"WHAT?" Blaine shouts leaping up, now looking frantically for his laptop. 'Fuck no! I did NOT fucking kiss him…. There was no kissing at all…. none… between us" madly trying to remember what happened in the car… "Goddamn it…no… he was leaning over to help me unhook the seatbelt that had got caught in the door!" he remembers. "Shit…. Kurt!" now realizing the magnitude of it all, "Kurt must have seen it too and is trying to call me" he says frantically as he types in the URL David gives him for the website.

"OK Blaine. Take a moment, gather your thoughts and words and call Kurt. He'll understand once you explain it to him. But do not… I repeat DO NOT take your sweet fucking time on this. Call him…. now!" and David hangs up.

Blaine hasn't noticed though because he's looking at pictures of himself. Pictures of himself with Gary, and reads the caption and suddenly he's nauseous and runs to the bathroom and throws up everything he consumed the day before. Wetting a washcloth with cold water for his head he goes back in the bedroom to find his phone and calls Kurt.

It rings three times before he hears Kurt's voice. Its quiet and its sad.

"Blaine"

"Kurt… I don't know what to say. I'm guessing you've seen the story online"

"Of course I have Blaine" Kurt replies flatly. "How could I not. It's everywhere and everyone I know is calling me now to make sure I've seen it. Oh, and the best call so far has been the one from my Dad, Blaine" Kurt continues "My Dad… who fucking well didn't even know we were back together. So, yes, Blaine I've seen the story. Who is he?" Kurt asks quietly.

Blaine hears Kurt sniffling, obvious that he's been crying, and it breaks his heart.

"Kurt I am so sorry. None of it is true. Whatever you are thinking, please please believe me. NOTHING happened. NOTHING" Blaine emphasizes. "Its just all bullshit written up by some asshole who decided it was a good night to try and destroy my life."

"Ok – so nothing happened you say." Kurt retorts abruptly "Who is he Blaine? You've never mentioned anyone to me before. And if pictures don't lie, it certainly looks like he's someone you knew well."

"Kurt," Blaine's head is back in his hand to try and stop the throbbing in his temples "his name is Gary. He's someone I know from a long time ago. Yes, we had a…. I don't know - a fling, but it was a LONG time ago, and we haven't seen each other literally in years" Blaine shares. "We were both at the fundraiser, and just spent the night catching up. He spent the night listening to me tell him how crazy I am about you. He was very kind about the whole thing. And then we left and got coffee and that was it" repeating the same story he told David "he dropped me off home… alone…and then I went to bed and now I'm waking up to this."

"And that picture in the car? I did not kiss him Kurt. He was bending in to help me with the seatbelt. I know it looks bad, but you have to believe me. I would never do that to you."

"You mean you'd never do that to me _again_."

Blaine sighs, knowing he probably deserves the barb, but barely able to keep it together any longer. "I will never do that to you…ever" he promises with a broken voice "Please Kurt, believe me."

There was silence on the line. Blaine doesn't know if Kurt had disconnected the call or is just being quiet.

"Kurt? Are you there?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'm here. It's just a lot to absorb Blaine and I've had too much time to blow it all out of proportion" Kurt admits. "I'm going to hang up now and sort this all out in my head."

"Kurt – you believe me don't you?" Blaine's quietly freaking out. "You have to believe me. Nothing happened. I would never do anything ever again to hurt you – please tell me you know that." he pleads with desperation now in his voice.

"Blaine – my heart believes you. But my mind is doing overtime right now and I need to think it all through. Just give me some time?"

"I'll give you some time, but I'm not going to let you pull away Kurt. I love you and this is all a huge cluster fuck created by some very very small people. I will not let this threaten our relationship Kurt. I promise you that."

"Ok Blaine" Kurt smiles wanly into the phone. "I believe you but I need to get off now. I'll talk to you tomorrow" and with that Kurt disconnects the call.

Blaine sits for a few minutes, tears streaming down his face, looking at the picture of him and Kurt on his phone, wondering if he's about to lose Kurt for the second time.

He goes back to his computer and reads the whole story, now fully realizing that they have also caught him and Kurt on camera, laying out their whole week together for everyone to see.

_Motherfuckers_

And then he knows what he has to do. Finding his phone he places a call "Hi, it's me. I need a favor."


	10. Chapter 10 The Decision

Kurt left the school at lunch time, obvious to everyone that he wasn't going to get any work done, and the kids were staying away, giving him space.

So he went home, where Rachel was waiting for him with a pot of tea and some cookies that she had baked. They sat on the sofa dunking their cookies into the tea, eating as Kurt relayed his and Blaine's earlier conversation to Rachel.

"See I told you!" she exclaimed pointing her free finger at him "I knew there had to be an explanation. Man, those story hounds are relentless."

"Yeah – I guess." Kurt agreed snorting out half a laugh. "Honestly Rach we didn't have a clue that anyone was taking pictures. In fact, we were so smug at the airport the day I got there thinking we had successfully dodged them. Hindsight, we should have known it wouldn't be that easy" he shrugged, taking a bite of his tea laden cookie.

"But Kurt… in your defense… you wouldn't have been aware of it at all anyways. You're not used to being in that type of spotlight - Blaine is. He should have been the one watching a little better" she stated dipping another cookie into her tea and frowning when it falls apart and drops into her mug.

"Aww… Rach… your tea!" Kurt sympathizes with her with a laugh. She looks up at him and they both start giggling, which leads to full out laughing, the kind of laughter where you don't even know why you're laughing anymore but you can't stop.

"Oh my god…. Stop it!" Kurt squeals holding his side. "I swear I'm going to throw up if I don't stop" he says, wiping the tears off his face.

"I can't! Oh my god,…. I'm going to pee my pants" Rachel snorts falling from the couch to the floor, curling up in the fetal position.

Eventually they get a hold of themselves and simmer down, still giggling and snorting every once in a while until they're sure they've got control again.

"Ahh… we needed that!" Rachel decides delicately wiping tears from her eyes. And then all of a sudden she jumps up off the couch "Shit what time is it?" she asks frantically. "I have to get to the theatre" running around now gathering her purse and phone and jacket.

"Um yeah - you're late" Kurt informs her looking at the time on his phone "you better get a cab" as he pulls out a $20 and gives it to her. "I insist - my treat for you being such a good friend and putting up with all my bullshit."

She takes it from him giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. 'And I will accept because I'm really fucking late and it's all your fault!"

She leaves running down the stairs yelling up "make sure you call Blaine tonight sweetie. You two need to talk. And you don't want him being miserable all night – not fair".

"Yeah yeah Ms Berry" Kurt mutters to himself going back into their apartment. "I don't know – maybe Blaine being miserable for one night isn't such a bad thing." he suggests to the empty apartment. After all, Kurt reasons, he really hasn't decided what he's going to do and what he's going to say to Blaine when he finally does contact him. With that thought he goes into the kitchen to see if there is any food.

A couple of hours later Kurt is at the kitchen table. He's had a bit of dinner, accompanied with a lot of wine and was in the final stages of writing out a Pros and Cons list of reasons why he should or shouldn't move to LA with Blaine.

The only thing on the Cons list was Rachel – bolded and underlined many times.

He couldn't think about moving without his heart breaking a bit at the thought of leaving his bestie. He knew he'd still see her often, but it would be the end of an era. They'd never live together again as roomies, share late night pizzas, give each other manis and pedis, have giggle attacks like they had earlier today about absolutely nothing. Their friendship meant so much to him and to say it would be hard to leave her behind would be an understatement.

Other than that, his Cons column was incredibly empty.

Sure his job was great and he'd miss the people, but not enough to make him stay. Even if he didn't work at the Foundation, he could get another job lickity split in a school.

The city was great too, but again, not enough to make him stay. He has loved every minute he's spent in New York, but maybe it was time for a change. It's not like he couldn't come back to visit, which he would, often, to see Rachel.

On the other hand his Pros list was jammed, full to the brim:

Blaine

Warm weather

House in the hills

Get a dog (so Blaine can run the canyon properly)

Work at the Foundation

Gardening with Mr. Takahashi

Dancing at The Abbey (cuz wasn't that a night!)

Pacific Ocean

Disneyland

Convertible cars

Starbucks on SMB with very cute barista boy

No more shitty stories being written about Blaine with other men.

Blaine because he's worth mentioning from beginning to end

Kurt sighs looking down at what he wrote. "_Lists never lie._" All of a sudden he really needs to talk to Blaine. Everything becoming so clear to him and it panics him to think that earlier today he almost threw it away. Grabbing his phone, he brings Blaine's number up and connects. It rings a couple of times before Blaine answers.

"Hi Kurt… I wasn't expecting to hear from you tonight".

Kurt takes a deep breath, feeling better just having the connection "Yeah, well I've been sitting here thinking all day and just really needed to hear your voice".

He could hear some background voices and Blaine mumbling something away from the mouthpiece.

"Blaine – where are you" Kurt asks suddenly curious.

"I'm just getting out of the cab Kurt. Hold on while I pay him".

Kurt frowned… a cab? Why was Blaine taking a cab in LA?

"Have you been drinking or something Blaine" Kurt asks suspiciously.

"Nooo…why would you ask that"

"Why else would you be taking a cab, if you weren't drinking? You always drive in LA"

"Who's to say I'm in LA Kurt"

Totally confused now, Kurt shakes his head "I'm sorry. Am I missing something here?"

"Maybe" Blaine offers, "Kurt – open your door"

"What?"

"Open your door … please?"

Kurt goes over to the front door and opens it to find Blaine standing there, phone to his ear, and a huge bouquet of red roses in his hand. He disconnects the call and stands, hoping and waiting to be invited in to the apartment.

"Oh my god Blaine… you're here!" Kurt realizes as he crashes into him crushing the flowers between their bodies.

"Whoa… yes, Kurt. I'm here" Blaine says, holding on to Kurt while trying to rescue the flowers. "I couldn't sit in LA knowing that you were here freaking out about us and possibly making a decision that I wouldn't be able to live with. I had to come and see you and hold you and kiss you and tell you I love you and that I want you to come back…with… me…" emphasizing the last three words with a kiss between each.

Kurt kisses him back and rests his forehead on Blaine's for a minute, trying to take it all in.

"What did you do" he finally asks "hop on a plane the minute we hung up?"

"Pretty much - yup" Blaine nods his head.

"Dork"

"Pretty much" Blaine continues to nod. "Can I come in now?" he asks with a small smile, relieved to see that Kurt appears to be ok and isn't throwing him out on to the street… yet…

"Of course, silly. I'm sorry …come in. I just made tea." Kurt offers as he takes the flowers from Blaine, burying his head in them to smell their delicate scent.

"Where's Rachel?" Blaine asks as he follows Kurt to the kitchen, taking off his jacket and scarf.

"She's at the theatre. She's an understudy in an off-Broadway show."

"Oh wow! Good for her" he said approaching the table looking curiously at the list sitting there.

Kurt turns around with the mugs of tea in hand, and catches Blaine checking out the list.

"Heyyyy you…. private stuff" Kurt complains half heartedly putting the tea down in a hurry. "You're not supposed to go around reading people's personal stuff" in an effort to cover up his slight embarrassment of being caught writing a Pros and Cons list.

"Well I'm sorry" Blaine dodges Kurt's slap on the arm. "but when you see your name at the top of a list, its kind of hard to ignore" he picks it up now and looks over at Kurt with his eyebrows raised "May I?" he asks politely.

Rolling his eyes, Kurt nods in agreement.

"So I take it that this is a list of why you should or shouldn't move to LA?" Blaine questions. Kurt nods again, folding his arms across his chest, putting on the best bitch face he can under the given circumstance.

"I see…. And I'm definitely a Pro" Blaine reads "and the house and birds yes… yes" he says as his eyes scan down. And then he stops abruptly raising his eyebrows even higher and looks back up at Kurt "cute barista boy at the Starbucks Kurt?" he teases. "Which one are you referring to exactly because I can't quite recall?" now in full mocking mode, knowing damn well that there was a barista there that could have been Blaine's doppelganger if Blaine ever let his hair grow out and left it curly. The boy was adorable and sweet and Blaine knew Kurt had a bit of a crush on him, and it hadn't bothered him at all, seeing as it was his look alike.

"Shut up Blaine Anderson" Kurt now getting defensive. "You know damned well which boy I thought was cute. Do you need your ego stroked that much?"

"Well maybe not my ego" Blaine quips "but you could stroke something else" squealing and ducking when Kurt launches himself at Blaine in an effort to get the list out of his hands.

"Uncle Uncle" Blaine surrenders, laughing out loud "here take your list" offering it as Kurt pulls it away from him "I've seen enough anyways. But seriously, it looks to me that it's really only Rachel that's truly keeping you here?"

Kurt nods looking down still at the paper now in his hands.

"Well, Kurt" Blaine sidles back up to him to put his arms around him "You know Rachel would be welcome anytime to come stay with us…on a visit or permanently" Blaine adds causing Kurt to look up. "What? Don't look so surprised" Blaine laughs. "She grows on a person! I like her and if she wanted to come out and try her hand at the recording industry, I'd be all for it and she could live with us" he states emphatically "initially…for a while."

Kurt drops the list to the table, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck kissing him softly "and that is why I love you Blaine Anderson. You never cease to amaze me"

"Can I take this as confirmation that you've forgiven me for the events of last night?"

"Well, I don't think you need to be forgiven when you didn't do anything wrong." Kurt admits, "I've come to terms with what happened and it's made me realize that this is just going to keep happening as long as we aren't physically together."

"So… I'm sorry… but does this mean your answer is 'yes' Kurt? Yes, you're going to come to LA and move in with me?" Blaine questions with trepidation in his voice.

Kurt looks into Blaine's eyes and sees nothing but love and warmth and belonging.

"OK.. Well there's another list that you haven't seen" Kurt says, pulling out a folded piece of paper in his pocket, not breaking eye contact with Blaine.

"What's on this list?" Blaine asks, pulling away slightly.

Kurt sighs, and takes Blaine's hand leading him to the sofa on the living room "Sit" he instructs him.

They both settle down on the sofa while Kurt unfolds the paper.

"I believe you when you say nothing happened last night. I truly do. But I really need you to hear what it was like from my point of view, and I had to write it down in case I get flustered."

Blaine nodded, not saying a word, letting Kurt proceed at his own pace.

Kurt took a deep breath and looked from his notes to Blaine.

"First, I love you. I never want any fights or arguments to happen without you knowing that I always love you. Nothing will ever change that."

Blaine lips turned up into a slight smile as he nodded again. "Me too" he agreed, clasping Kurt's forearm for emphasis.

Another deep breath, "When Rachel told me about the story on the internet, my first reaction was 'here we go again'. To see the pictures of you with another man, well. it broke my heart Blaine. It looked like you were out on the town with your boyfriend, and while, deep down I knew that wasn't the case, the rest of the world doesn't know that."

Blaine looked down in his lap, too emotional to look at Kurt's face, because he knew if he did, he'd try and silence him with hugs and kisses. But Kurt really needed to say this,and Blaine really needed to hear it.

Kurt continued, "I started getting phone calls from everyone. It's amazing how word spreads so fast. The most difficult call I got was from my Dad. I had to explain to him how we were together again, and instead of it being celebratory, it ended up being in defense. I think he's ok with everything now that I've explained it, but again, I want to celebrate our relationship Blaine, not defend it" Kurt said ducking his head down determined to make eye contact with Blaine. He reached out and lifted Blaine's chin to see his eyes; filled with unshed tears.

"I'm so sorry Kurt. I never meant for any of this to happen. Fuck, I'm such a conceited prick. I've spent so many years not worrying about others around me, what they think, how they feel, that I think I've lost touch with being empathetic. Does that make sense?" Blaine tries to explain himself.

"Yes, I think I know what you're saying. But in order for us to keep our relationship, you're going to have to start thinking of what the consequences are to your actions Blaine. If you had even text me last night to let me know you met an old friend and spent the evening talking, well... at least it wouldn't have been a shock. I still wouldn't have liked the pictures, but it wouldn't have come out from left field. I wouldn't have felt the way I felt this morning."

The room was silent as Blaine absorbed everything Kurt was communicating to him. It was true - he hadn't thought of any negative consequences. He had danced with another man, had a few drinks, let the man take his hand as they left to his car and all the while, paps were taking photos. Had he noticed the camera flashes? To be honest with himself, yes, he had. But he hadn't connected the consequences. As a result, he hurt the most important person in the world. Made him cry - made him doubt his love; his devotion.

"Kurt..." Blaine begins, enveloping Kurt's hand into his, "I never meant to hurt you. I completely see how my actions have affected you and I truly mean it when I say that it will never happen again. I guess I have to get used to having a boyfriend again, which is so foreign to me now, and be cognizant of everything I do in public. I get that. I really do.. " he explained furrowing his brows. "But what I can't control are the stories and the pictures that are published. They can take a photo anytime and make that snapshot last an eternity. Wrong place - wrong time. So what I need to say to you, is that while you have my word that I will act more appropriately in public, there are going to be stories written and photos published, and I just hope that in time you learn to trust me and not believe them and come to me right away if you have any issues. Being a "celebrity" isn't what it's cracked up to be. I only hope you can learn to live with the pressure." Blaine brought Kurt's hand up to his mouth, kissing it gently and caressing it to his cheek. "We love each other so much. I know we can work it out."

Kurt nods, tears slowly falling down his cheeks. "I know we can too sweetie. Especially once we're living in the same city - in the same house. Sharing the same bed... So ask me again" he requests with a smile.

A smile starts to spread on Blaine's face "Kurt, will you make my life complete and live with me in LA" he asks, still nervous for the final answer.

"Yes Blaine. Yes, I will" he answers with a smile that spreads cheek to cheek. "What I've realized today" Kurt shares "is that we can't continue a long distance relationship without shit like that story today happening again." He cuddles into Blaine, loosely resting his arms around Blaine's waist. "If we're going to make it, then we need to be living in the same city and that city is Los Angeles. So yes, Blaine" Kurt nods "I love you and I'm going to move to LA. I'm moving to LA and we are going to live together. Everything else will just fall into place" and he covers Blaine's mouth with his own before anything more can be said, kissing him deeply, realizing that they'll be doing this now for the rest of their lives and nothing could make him happier.

"Oh, Kurt…. You have no idea how happy you've made me" Blaine jumps off the sofa lifting Kurt up, twirling him around "It's the best decision you've ever made… you'll see" putting him down with another kiss, while gently wiping the tears off his face.

They stand there, content to hug and kiss, until finally Kurt breaks them apart taking Blaine's hand, "Come on. It's been a long day. Let's go to bed" leading him to the bedroom.

As they're getting undressed for bed, Kurt pulls his shirt off and stops. "Hey I just realized. If I'm going to live in the westcoast, then you're not going to be able to call me Eastcoast anymore" he pouts.

"So, I'll just call you Westcoast too" Blaine suggests, shrugging his shirt off.

"Blainnnneeeee… we can't both be Westcoast. That's totally lame and would be very confusing" Kurt admonishes as he steps out of his jeans and briefs.

"Well then we'll just have to come up with another name for you" Blaine tugs his pants off.

"OK but you better put on your thinking cap mister, because it's going to need to be epic" Kurt informs him as he slips into the bed keeping the sheets raised for Blaine to join him.

Fully naked, Blaine slides in, lying quickly on top of Kurt; needing the intimacy of the connection.

"Hi" Blaine says to Kurt with a smile.

"Hi" Kurt answers smiling back. "Fancy meeting you here… been waiting forever."

"Sorry I was late – won't happen again" Blaine promises, lowering his head down for a kiss.

Slowly kissing Kurt's mouth, he begins to travel down his neck to his chest, peppering soft kisses as he continues to move lower.

"Hmmm… want you to suck my dick Blaine Warbler." Kurt murmurs, carding his fingers through Blaine's curls.

"Kurt Hummel, I thought you'd never ask."

And with that, Blaine's head disappears under the covers.

xxx

**A/N And that's it folks! There's an epilogue that I'll be posting sometime this week to wrap it up. I hope you've enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading :)**


	11. EPILOGUE The Doppelganger

Epilogue everyone! There's an A/N at the end. For now, I'll just warn that there's smut.

**Doppelganger dop·pel·gäng·er **

**somebody similar to another person: somebody who closely resembles somebody else **

Kurt and Blaine were walking down Santa Monica Blvd, holding hands, on a sunny Friday morning. It was still officially springtime, but it felt like summer had already taken residence in LA. It was going to be a hot day – no doubt about it.

_"If we were smart, we'd be back in our house enjoying the air conditioning, or be out on our back patio where we can enjoy the hillside breeze… But oh no…instead we're about to make fools of ourselves" _Kurt opines to himself, and suddenly he stops mid stride.

"Blaine. I don't think I can do this. This is a bad idea…come on, let's go home" he pleads with his boyfriend who's stopped a couple of steps ahead of him.

Blaine steps back to Kurt "Come on Kurt. We're already here…Besides we don't even know if he'll be there."

"But what if he is?" Kurt asks apprehensively, crossing his arms "Honestly, what are we going to do or say?"

_"Why the hell did I ever put that on my Pro list – what was I thinking?"_ he berates himself.

"We'll just act ourselves and talk about the weather" Blaine suggests. "Kurt, I don't know. Let's just go in and find out. Look he obviously struck a chord with you. It's not like we're going to do anything about it – it's just natural curiosity…. right?"

Kurt stands contemplating.

Blaine hooked his arm with Kurt's trying now to nudge him in a forward motion. "We'll get the coffee to go. Look – its just up at the corner" Blaine points, trying to persuade him to carry through with the plan.

Kurt frowns, "OK. Look…I know you think this is all going to make for some fantastic fodder to fuel future kinks, but Blaine Anderson, if this gets at all weird we leave…immediately… promise?"

"Yes, Kurt we'll leave – I promise." Blaine holds his hand up in oath. "I honestly don't think he'll be there. You know what the turnover is like in coffee houses."

Reluctantly Kurt resumes his forward walk towards the Starbucks, hooking his arm into Blaine's with his other hand crossed over for reinforcement.

The truth of the matter is that ever since reading "the list" back in NYC, where Kurt had included Blaine's doppelganger on the Pros column, Blaine has had a burning curiosity to see him again. He remembers the barista boy looking like him, and recollects that Kurt seemed to flush a bit when they spoke, but he hadn't realized the extent of it; that Kurt was full out fanboying the kid. What Blaine has realized is that he really needs to be more attuned to his boyfriend's signals.

Another half block and they're there. There are a few patrons sitting outside at the patio tables, enjoying the rays; mostly in conversations with companions or on their own working on their laptops.

When they get to the door, Kurt takes a deep breath as Blaine opens it for them muttering "Here we go, about to make complete idiots of ourselves."

"Nonsense… we're just getting coffee" Blaine reasons lowly in his ear.

As they walk in, every head in the café looks up to check them out. This is absolutely the gayest coffee house that Kurt has ever been in; it's a freaking meat market. He's never seen so many beautiful men gathered together in one place that didn't involve strobe lights and booming techno music.

All eyes are on the two of them, immediately sizing them up. Some go back to what they were doing, while others continue to watch with interest as they make their way to stand in line to place their order.

For obvious reasons, Blaine has tried to vaguely disguise himself, wearing dark sunglasses, a hat, and keeping his hair more natural with a manageable wave instead of the gelled down version. Even then they both know it's not going to take too long for someone to recognize him.

Blaine looks up at the wall menu, like he's trying to decide what to order. He's trying not to look obvious; Kurt not so much. He's scanning behind the counter towards the back employee area to see if the doppelganger is there.

"He's not here…. He's not here Blaine" Kurt talks into Blaine's shoulder, not sure if he's relieved or not. As apprehensive as he is about the whole thing, he also has butterflies in his stomach at the prospect of seeing him again.

"Yeah, I see that" Blaine looks around the cafe, a little disappointed, before looking back at Kurt "So do you want to get a coffee and leave, or have it here anyways?"

"Let's stay. Might as well – we came all this way; besides the air conditioning is nice." Kurt suggests as they make their way up to the counter where the barista is waiting.

"Hi! What can I get for you" he asks with a smile.

_"Really…is it on the job description that you must be adorable to be a barista in this place?" _Kurt wonders.

"Hi there" Blaine replies, "we'll have a tall non-fat mocha frap and a tall iced Americano please….for here."

"Sure no problem" the barista answers as he relays the drink orders to his co-worker.

He rings up the drinks on the register. "That will be $6.80 please" he informs Blaine who indicates that he's paying with his visa.

"Just go ahead and swipe. Stripe towards me" the man advises.

As Blaine is doing that, the manager comes out from the back "Steve, when are you going on your break? You should be on it already." he says, smiling apologetically at Kurt and Blaine for the interruption.

"Yeah. I will. I'm just waiting for…"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!….. I'm late. It took me longer than I thought" and out of the back room blasts in the boy; flailing his apron around as he tries madly to put it on. It's Blaine's doppelganger. He does still work here… he's late for his shift, but he's here. He explains to Steve and his Manager how he got held up at his callback, and, while he's talking, Blaine takes advantage of the moment to critique him.

He looks to be about 20 years old -21 tops; same height, a tad bigger build but same coloring. His face is slightly fuller and eyebrows aren't…. well… they're not as bushy as Blaine's. His hair is longer and wild with curls. He's got the same color eyes and he's got the smile and he's got the voice. He really and truly is his doppelganger. Blaine, realizing that Kurt's probably sizing him up too, looks over; Kurt's got this ridiculous dreamy sort of grin on his face as he watches the boy speak to his co-workers, and something needles Blaine. It isn't jealousy per se, but all of a sudden he doesn't like it that someone, other than him, can have this effect on Kurt.

"Can you can finish ringing these gentlemen in please?" Steve asks as he smiles again at Kurt and Blaine, who's been jarred back to reality with a jab in the side from Kurt.

"Sure, will do...thanks Steve" says the barista boy, only now looking up to his two patrons standing there.

"Hi there!... ohhhh….. HI!" he repeats with gusto, recognizing them immediately from when they used to frequent the café. "I haven't seen you two in ages! How are you?" he asks, pulling the receipt off the printer and handing it to Blaine.

"Oh well, we're great" Kurt answers looking to Blaine, blushing, voice a little higher than it should be.

"Yeah" Blaine adds, "We haven't been here for a while. My boyfriend", nodding to Kurt, "just moved out here a few weeks ago and we're just now getting back into a routine of sorts" Blaine babbles, giving the barista way too much information.

"Cool" barista boy replies, looking back and forth at them with a big megawatt smile, "I'm so happy for you both. I remember thinking you were such a cute couple". He looks over at the end of the counter. "Looks like your drinks are ready" he tells them as he nods down to the two cups sitting waiting to be claimed.

"Oh right. Thanks!" Kurt rushes down, grateful for the excuse to end the conversation.

Blaine fixes his iced coffee with some cinnamon, while Kurt looks around for a place to sit. Real estate being at an all time high, they settle themselves on the stools at the side bar by the barista counter.

They sit in silence, drinking their coffees, pretending to check their phones, while eavesdropping on the conversation that barista boy is having with his manager. He's sharing his horrific callback experience. It was for a modeling job and after lining all the men up, this boy was singled out and told,

"…that I'm too fat for the job." barista boy states incredulously to his Manager. "Can you believe that? Apparently my ass is too round!"

Kurt coughs into his beverage container, trying not to choke, while Blaine thumps his back lightly.

"Are you OK?" Blaine asks.

"Please, I think we need to get out of here Blaine" Kurt chokes. "This is so awkward. I have no idea what we are doing here anymore."

"Relax Kurt. It's fine. We're just having coffee, nothing more. We're here now, so let's just enjoy the drinks and then we'll leave, ok?"

Kurt looks at Blaine who in turn is looking at him with eyebrows raised in question.

Before Kurt can answer they are joined by the doppelganger; coming over to wipe the counter and make small talk. "So, where did you move here from... if you don't mind me asking?" he directs at Kurt.

"Oh no. I don't mind at all! New York – Manhattan actually" he tells the barista who is shaking his head.

"Wow – that's a major move, right? To be together I take it?

"Yeah" Kurt affirms looking at Blaine now with a smile "We were boyfriends back in high school and just recently got back together."

"Yes, meant to be together." Blaine adds glibly, grabbing Kurt's hand to hold on the counter.

"Aw… that's so sweet. You two are the cutest… honestly!" the barista declares.

Suddenly he looks a bit shy and awkward and looks around to see if his manager is close by before looking back up at them. "You know… I actually do know who you are. Well, I mean for sure I know who you are" he says directly to Blaine. "Company policy we're not allowed to 'out' any celebrities that come in so you can be comfortable, but I just have to say, Mr. Anderson, that I'm a big fan of yours."

"Oh.…oh! Well, thank you" Blaine says a bit surprised by the turn of the conversation. "It's always a pleasure to meet someone who enjoys my music. But please, call me Blaine…there are no Mr. Andersons here!"

"Ok cool! You know that's my name too?" barista boy informs him.

"Well Anderson is a fairly common name." Kurt adds trying to stay in the conversation.

The doppelganger looks over at them both… 'No, no, I mean Blaine. My first name is Blaine!"

He couldn't have timed it better if he tried; Kurt just about chokes on his coffee for the second time that afternoon, coughing into his sleeve as he tries to keep the liquid from spewing out of his mouth.

Blaine Anderson looks mortified. "Your name is Blaine?" he repeats, not sure he's heard it right.

"Yeah" barista Blaine confirms with a half laugh. "Its kind of a coincidence isn't it, because a lot of people even think I look like you, although I guess I'm a bit younger?"

"Ah, yeah…a bit…" Blaine is dumbfounded. What started out as a harmless morning of fun has turned into a twisted doppelganger horror show, and he's ready to get the fuck out of there.

"Ah, Kurt" he turns to his boyfriend, "Are you almost done love. I think we need to get going if we want to get those berries at the farmers market. You know they always sell out early." shifting his eyes to the door in an effort to tell him that they have to go.

Kurt has the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. It's all he can do to keep from bursting into laughter. _"Oh the turn of events!"_ he muses… With a wink, he answers "Sure, I'm done sweetie. Let's go." Turning to barista Blaine he holds out his hand to shake "My name is Kurt and it was a pleasure meeting you Blaine! I'm sure we'll meet up with you again another day."

Barista Blaine shakes his hand and turns to shake Blaine Anderson's hand. "Hey if you ever need a body double, you know where to find me" he says with a wink.

Blaine half laughs awkwardly, "For sure. I'll keep that in mind"

"Well take care you guys – nice to finally meet you properly." and he turns to go help at the counter now that new customers have come in.

"Are you happy now Blaine Anderson?" Kurt asks, finally able to laugh as they leave the coffee shop.

Blaine stops on the sidewalk and turns to Kurt and looking at each other, they both break out laughing. "Oh My God" Blaine exclaims shaking his head, 'Let's get the hell out of here and go home babe." taking Kurt's hand to hold until they get to the car.

xxxxxxxxxx

Later that day...

Blaine walks into the kitchen, following the amazing smell that's wafting through the house. He's been in his office, answering some emails back and forth to David. The details of his upcoming tour are starting to be finalized and he needed to verify some dates and venues.

What he sees stops him dead in his tracks. Since Kurt's move to LA, the layers have been slowly disappearing. Not that he's lost his fashion sense, but it's like he's more comfortable now in his skin and not covering up like he used to. Standing at the kitchen island, he is humming tunes whilst hulling strawberries; barefoot, dressed in shorts and a tank-top, looking sexy as fuck.

Blaine wraps his arms around Kurt's waist from behind, kissing his neck and resting his chin on his shoulder.

"What are you making that smells so good?" he asks, nuzzling into Kurt's neck.

Kurt tilts his head to give Blaine more access. "Hmmm..that feels good." Kurt hums. "It's roast chicken with lemon and rosemary, and we'll have grilled new potatoes and asparagus to go with it. And these are for later" he informs him, offering a strawberry over his shoulder to Blaine's mouth, who gladly accepts.

"Hmmm… Oh god Kurt. Those strawberries are amazing" Blaine says, turning Kurt's head back to face him so he can share the juice with a kiss. Kurt opens his mouth inviting Blaine's tongue in and he can taste the sweetness of the berry mixed with the taste of Blaine, and it's delicious.

"Hmmmmm" Kurt murmurs, deepening the kiss while Blaine continues to hold his face, running his free hand up and down Kurt's chest. Needing to feel skin, he breaks the kiss, lifting Kurt's tank top up to his shoulders and softly kisses his back making his way up to Kurt's ear lobes, stepping in more to press against his back.

Kurt closes his eyes and let's Blaine assault his neck. He holds on to the counter, pressing back against Blaine's hardening dick, causing Blaine to groan. Reaching around with his left hand, Blaine fondles Kurt through his shorts to discover he's already hard.

_Fuck_

"Do we have time?" Blaine asks as he mouths the back of Kurt's neck, grinding into him more, pinning him up to the island.

"Yeah, we have time. Don't stop" Kurt tells him, pushing his ass back to give Blaine more friction.

Blaine growls as he unbuttons Kurt's shorts, drawing the zipper down so his shorts fall to the ground. Kurt steps one leg out of them so he's not trapped. Reaching into his briefs, Blaine tugs out Kurt's cock and pulls down the briefs with the other hand. Kurt kicks the clothing off, and he's about to spread his legs, but Blaine has other ideas and spins him around so they are face to face, lifting Kurt's arms in the air, pulling his tank top off.

Kurt's now completely naked in the kitchen while Blaine's fully clothed, and if that isn't fucking hot, then Kurt doesn't know what is.

Starting at Kurt's mouth, Blaine begins kissing him, slowly at first and then getting progressively dirtier as Kurt moans into Blaine's mouth.

"Fuck Kurt, you're so beautiful. You're body is so…..hmmmmm…. amazing. I'm so fucking hard for you right now" Blaine murmurs, working his way down Kurt's chest; teasing his nipples, trailing kisses down to Kurt's groin where his cock is hard and twitching. Blaine sets down on his knees for a better angle taking Kurt's dick in his hand. Kurt leans back on to the island for support, holding on to Blaine by his curls, "Oh My God Blaine. Please do something – anything."

Blaine hums and kisses the cock sitting heavy in his hand, lapping up the pre-come that's leaking out, licking up and down; changing the pace every so often. And when he knows that Kurt can't stand it any longer, he slaps it against his tongue a few times before taking him in his mouth. Slowly he sucks as he pulls off, hollowing his cheeks, and then goes down for more; deeper each time. Blaine loves to give Kurt head; his cock is so perfect and tastes so good. He looks up and sees Kurt bent forward so he can watch his dick go in and out of Blaine's mouth, eyes dark; lips swollen from biting down and Blaine really needs to fuck him... now. Slowly releasing Kurt's cock, he stands back up, palming his own erection, and kisses Kurt messily.

"I want to fuck you …. babe…here, against the counter" Blaine mouths, "that ok?"

"God, Blaine, yes" Kurt turns around so his back is to Blaine and pushes back hard on Blaine's dick, grabbing the bottle of olive oil that sitting on the counter. "Here, use this" he gives it to Blaine and lays his chest down on the counter; spreading his legs for easy access. He looks so fucking hot laid out like this that Blaine thinks he's going to come just looking at him.

Running his hands down from his shoulders to his ass, Blaine takes a minute to gaze upon his beautiful boyfriend, spread and ready for him. Rubbing Kurt's ass, he gently spreads his cheeks apart to get to his hole, thumbing it as he drizzles the olive oil down his crack. The oil seeps down, dripping off his balls. Massaging in what he can, Blaine pulls his own shorts down to release his dick and pours more oil on it, lubing himself and lines up to Kurt.

"I'm not going to use my fingers baby. We'll go nice and slow…I want you to feel this Kurt." he whispers to his lover as he holds onto his hips and mounts him.

Kurt lets out a long moan, adjusting to the stretch, relishing the burn, "It's good…it's good…keep going…" he says, breaths coming in harshly.

Blaine grunts as he slowly fucks into Kurt, bit by bit, stretching him open with his dick, inching his way in until he's fully sheathed waiting desperately for a signal from Kurt to continue.

Kurt is panting hard. His arms are stretched out holding on to the counter edge; he turns his head to look back at Blaine and nods.

Blaine takes the signal and starts fucking into him, slowly at first, gaining momentum as he feels Kurt adjusting and opening himself further. He lays himself on top of Kurt's back, grabs on to his hands intertwining their fingers, and kisses his neck and back as he continues to fuck him.

"God Kurt… you feel amazing... Love you so much" he says over and over again as he starts thrusting faster…

"Blaine... Blaine….fuck me…harder! " Kurt edges him on pushing back now against Blaine's cock every time he pushes in, getting him in as deep in as possible.

Something snaps in Blaine when Kurt calls out his name. It's a primal instinct edged on by testosterone. Is Kurt calling out to him or to the boy? Blaine growls, surging forward, pinning Kurt completely against the countertop; pounding into his ass.

Kurt is his… no-one else's. Blaine needs to claim him; mark him for everyone to see. Kurt can have all the fantasies in the world, but at the end of the day, it is their bed that he sleeps in, and no-one is ever going to come between them.

He lets go of Kurt's hands and wraps his arms around Kurt's chest pulling him flush up against him and drives into him hard and fast; head buried in Kurt's neck, while the sounds and smell of male sex permeates the kitchen. Knowing that Kurt is close Blaine wraps his oil covered hand around Kurt's dick and starts fisting as he loses tempo and thrusts erratically into Kurt's ass getting closer to coming.

"Come on Blaine… come inside me… " Kurt urges him on.

Hearing Kurt say his name again causes Blaine to climax, spilling cum into Kurt, so much that some starts running out and down his thigh. But Kurt doesn't notice because his own orgasm is happening. As Blaine pulls on his cock, he yells out Blaine's name, streaking cum across the island counter and cupboard doors.

They both drop forward on the counter, Blaine collapsing and resting his head on Kurt's back, as they try to catch their breath. He holds onto Kurt's waist, knowing that Kurt gets weak in the knees after coming. Slowly Kurt bends his arm back to cradle Blaine's neck twisting his head to kiss him; they kiss, wet open mouthed kisses. Eventually Blaine releases Kurt, pulling out of him, and turns him around to hold him, kissing his cheeks, his forehead and back to his mouth, avowing his love.

The buzzer suddenly goes off indicating that the chicken is ready, and they look at each other and smile; perfect timing.

xxxxxxx

After cleaning themselves and doubly cleaning the island and counter, they decide to dine out on the patio, and treat themselves to a nice leisurely dinner, complete with candles, soft jazz, good food and chilled chardonnay from Napa. They finished off the meal with the fresh strawberries while enjoying the last of the sun as the birds flit about the yard getting ready for nightfall.

Blaine pops a strawberry in his mouth and chases it down with some wine, before looking over at Kurt with a quizzical look on his face. He opens his mouth as if to speak and then closes it, frowning a bit like he's not sure how to say what he wants to say.

"What?" Kurt asks, patting his face with his napkin, horrified that he's got food on his face.

"I was just wondering" Blaine looks at Kurt with an expression of vulnerability "back in the kitchen when we were fucking, you were calling my name and saying 'fuck me Blaine and come in me Blaine'….and…" he hesitates.

Kurt puts down his napkin. "Yeah?" looking over, head cocked to one side… "And you're wondering if I was actually talking to you or fantasizing about barista Blaine?" Kurt finishes the question for him.

"Sort of" Blaine frowns, focusing his attention on the napkin in his hands and squirming because he's more than a bit embarrassed about his apparent lack of self-confidence.

"Well, which would you rather my love?" Kurt asks softly, leaning back in his chair with his glass of wine.

Blaine raises his head and when he looks at Kurt all he sees is love in his eyes, mixed in with a little bit of mischievousness, and suddenly it dawns on him that it doesn't matter. This man is his – they love each other completely, and he doesn't need to know. It really doesn't matter any more.

"I don't know… I guess it's actually kind of hot either way" Blaine decides with a shrug.

"Good. Let's leave it at that" Kurt counters, moving off his chair to straddle Blaine's lap, popping another strawberry into his lover's mouth.

"Hmmm… Kurt.. these berries are so good" Blaine hums as he savors the sweetness of the fruit. "You know what they'd go really good with?"

"No, what?" Kurt asks as he peppers kisses along his neck.

"Coffee… perhaps?"

XXXXXXX

**A/N And so that's it folks! I hope you enjoyed this last little chapter. It was actually a one shot that I was going to post later, and then I realized it would make a good epilogue.**

**I want to thank arya_arsay for being my beta. I really appreciate all the cleaning up you did and thoughtful suggestions. Thank you very much!**

**Also, I'd like to thank all of you for favoriting and following my story. I'm tickled pink that you liked it and I hope the ending lived up to your expectations.**

**That being said, I'm contemplating a sequel. Foundations was complete before I started posting it, and now that it's out there, I feel that there is opportunity to go a little further. I'd like to learn what their life is like together, with Kurt's job at the Foundation, while Blaine's career goes to new heights. Maybe add in a jealousy here and there ;)  
**

**So, if you're at all interested, perhaps send me a PM. And if you have anything in particular you'd like covered, then by all means let me know.**

**Again, thanks for taking this journey with me. I've had a blast!**


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